bios

B3I1O1S1
UK/ˈbaɪ.ɒs/US/ˈbaɪ.oʊs/

noun

A vitamin essential for the growth of yeast, since found to be several B vitamins.

OriginAncient Greek βίος →
CommonScrabble 6
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Meanings

bios1

noun
  1. pluralplural of bio
  2. obsoleteA vitamin essential for the growth of yeast, since found to be several B vitamins.

bios2

nounbios (plural bioi)

plural bioi

  1. human sciencesA particular mode of life, a qualified life.

BIOS3

nounBIOS (plural BIOSes)

plural BIOSes

  1. abbreviationacronymcomputingAcronym of Basic Input/Output System.

    Toshiba manufactures the chip set and the 8- to 10-MHz bus; the BIOS, shadowable in both system and video modes, is licensed from Award.

    1991 March 12, PC Mag, volume 10, number 5
  2. broadlyinformalcomputingany firmware user interface that provides similar functionality as BIOS, such as UEFI.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekβίος“life, the good life”
  2. Englishbios

From Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life, the good life”), first distinguished in this particular sense by Giorgio Agamben. Doublet of jiva and quick.

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

boissibo
Cite this entry
APA

bios. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bios

MLA

“bios.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bios. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bios,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bios.

Source: bios on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.