Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An area that is uniform in environmental conditions and in its distribution of animal and plant life.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun a region uniform in its environmental conditions and in the types of plants and animals living in it.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A geographical area that has a uniform biological environment and a uniform distribution of plants and animals
  • noun figuratively a context where someone feels 'naturally' at home, such as his field of professional or scientific expertise

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[bio– + Greek topos, place.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek βίος (bios) 'life' + τόπος (topos) 'place'

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Examples

Comments

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  • "Because it obstructed normal travel and commerce in areas that abutted it, the Iron Curtain inadvertently isolated ecosystems and protected wildlife. Therefore, when the East-West border was dismantled, remarkably pristine biotopes emerged from one of modern history’s most ignominious creations."

    - Paul Hockenos, Pedaling the Iron Curtain, german-times.com, June 2009.

    August 13, 2009