Meanings
- uncountableethicsThe branch of ethics that studies the implications of biological and biomedical advances.
Given this potential bonanza, the primary moral goal for today’s bioethics can be summarized in a single sentence. Get out of the way.
2015 August 1, Steven Pinker, “The moral imperative for bioethics”, in The Boston Globe, archived from the original on 03 Dec 20153 more examples
This graded appreciation of the developing moral status of human life, especially during its prenatal stages, is deeply relevant to some of the most important bioethics debates of our day.
1999, Ronald M. Green, “Jewish Teaching on the Sanctity and Quality of Life”, in Edmund D. Pellegrino, Alan I. Faden, editors, Jewish and Catholic Bioethics: An Ecumenical Dialogue, page 332006, Florencia Luna, Arleen L. F. Salles, One: Latin American Bioethics: Some Reflections, Florencia Luna (editor), Bioethics and Vulnerability: A Latin American View, page 9, Bioethics has been defined as the critical and systematic reflection on ethical issues in healthcare, biological and medical research, and public health. […] In the United States, the emergence of modern bioethics has been characterized by a shift away from the religious and medical considerations that initially dominated the discourse to more philosophical and legal concepts.
Despite the enormous breadth of bioethics, which ranges from interpersonal conflicts in medical practice, to ethical issues in animal and human subjects research, to policy formation in health care and the sciences, the bioethics field may be united by two common characteristics. First, bioethics is by nature a highly interdisciplinary activity.[…]Secondly, biothics tends to be practiced today along the main modalities of the ethics of modernity.
2013, Insoo Hyun, “x2”, in Bioethics and the Future of Stem Cell Research, page 14
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gʷeyh₃-
- Ancient Greekβῐ́ος (bĭ́os)
- Ancient Greekβῐο- (bĭo-)
- Englishbio-
- Englishethics
- Englishbioethics
Translations
Catalan bioètica
- bioèticabranch of ethics
Dutch bio-ethiek
- bio-ethiekbranch of ethics
German Bioethik, Bio-Ethik
- Bioethikbranch of ethics
- Bio-Ethikbranch of ethics
Greek βιοηθική
- βιοηθική (vioïthikí)branch of ethics
Indonesian bioetika, bioetik
- bioetikabranch of ethics
- bioetikbranch of ethics
Irish bitheitic
- bitheiticbranch of ethics
Māori matatika koiora
- matatika koiorabranch of ethics
Polish bioetyka
- bioetykabranch of ethics
Spanish bioética
- bioéticabranch of ethics
Cite this entry
bioethics. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bioethics
“bioethics.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bioethics. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bioethics,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bioethics.
Source: bioethics on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.