biomass
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From bio- (prefix denoting organic life) + mass (“matter, material”).[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbaɪə(ʊ)mæs/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbaɪoʊˌmæs/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Hyphenation: bi‧o‧mass
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
[edit]biomass (usually uncountable, plural biomasses)
- (biology)
- The total mass of a living thing or a part thereof (such as a cell).
- 2005, David A. Guertin, David M. Sabatini, “Cell Size Control”, in Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, volume IV, Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, , →ISBN:
- Since protein constitutes the majority of the biomass of a cell, building new protein is a major way that cells increase their size.
- The total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
- 2012 August 2, Theo Tait, “Don’t Wear Yum-yum Yellow [review of Demon Fish: Travels through the Hidden World of Sharks (2012) by Juliet Eilperin]”, in London Review of Books[1], volume 34, number 15, London: LRB Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-04:
- In the untouched Shangri-la-like Kingman Reef in the Line Islands in the central Pacific, sharks make up 75 per cent of the fish biomass.
- The total mass of a living thing or a part thereof (such as a cell).
- Organic matter from living things which were recently alive (especially vegetation) used as a fuel or source of energy, especially if cultivated for that purpose; also, fuel produced from such organic matter; biofuel.
- 1994, Robert Williams, “Roles for Biomass Energy in Sustainable Development”, in R[obert Harry] Socolow, C. Andrews, F. Berkhout, V. Thomas, editors, Industrial Ecology and Global Change, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, published 1997, →ISBN, abstract, page 199:
- Advanced technologies such as gasifier/gas turbine systems for electric power generation and fuel cells for transportation make it possible for biomass to provide a substantial share of world energy in the decades ahead, at competitive costs.
- 2020 April 22, Paul Stephen, “COVID-19: Meet the Railway Heroes”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 41:
- Among the key contracts she works on is the supply of coal and biomass to Drax power station and extensive rail operations for British Steel.
- 2020 August 26, Andrew Mourant, “Reinforced against Future Flooding”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 60–61:
- All vegetation and tree stumps were sent to a local recycling facility to be turned into biomass.
Hyponyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]total mass of a living thing or a part thereof
total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
|
organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
|
fuel produced from such organic matter — see biofuel
References
[edit]- ^ “biomass, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2021; “biomass, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
[edit]- biomass (ecology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- biomass (energy) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- biomass (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷeyh₃-
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *meh₂ǵ-
- English terms prefixed with bio-
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Biology
- English terms with quotations