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Glite Dictionary
ethnobiological

ethnobiological

1 9.0
The study of how people in different cultures know and use plants and animals
  • adjective
  • /ˌɛθnoʊbaɪˈɑlədʒɪkəl/
  • Specialized
: etnobiológico
  • Researchers gathered ethnobiological data to understand how different cultures classify local wildlife.

Examples

  • Another overlap of geography and a linguistics-inflected ethnobiology comes where landscape-based livelihoods meet ethnobiological knowledge.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The ethnobiological study revealed how indigenous tribes use plants for medicinal purposes.

  • Above all, though, the project is an attempt to repay the Matses by preserving their trove of ethnobiological knowledge in their own language for future generations.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Her ethnobiological research focused on the traditional practices of farming communities in the Amazon.

Surface Forms

ethnobiological positive

Morphology

ethnobiological = biological (semi-transparent) = ethno + biology + ical

The adjective is formed productively by adding ethno- to biological, so the structure is recoverable even though the sense is specialized.

Etymology

Ethnobiological comes from ethno- ('groups of people'), bio- ('life'), and -logical ('study'), the same parts you see in ethnic and biology. So, it means the 'study of how different groups of people understand and use living things'.