Dictionary

ecosystem en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈiːkəʊˌsɪstəm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From eco- + system. Coined by English botanist Arthur Tansley in 1935 in a paper titled The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts in the journal Ecology.

Meanings

1. A system formed by an ecological community and its environment that functions as a unit.
   • Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force. 2012 January 14, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2012, page 70:
2. The interconnectedness of organisms (plants, animals, microbes) with each other and their environment.
3. (broadly) A network of interconnected people, organizations, products or services that resembles a natural ecosystem due to the complex interdependencies.
   • It [The Kashmir Files] is being described by the leftist “liberal” ecosystem as a movie that peddles bigotry against Muslims. 2022 March 21, Rahul Shivshankar, “The real reason why the Left eco-system has launched a scurrilous attack on the movie Kashmir Files”, in Times of India:
   • The result, as Maria Farrell and Robin Berjon put it in a striking essay in Noema magazine, is that our online spaces are no longer open ecosystems. 2024 May 4, John Naughton, “The internet is in decline – it needs rewilding”, in The Guardian:
   • The company’s ecosystem mainly comprises its supply chain, customers, end consumers and competitors.
   • There is a certain duality in how the Hindutva ecosystem is pushing the anti-hijab discourse into the mainstream. 2022 February 17, Angshuman Choudhury, Suraj Gogoi, “Hijab ban: How some liberals are sleepwalking into the trap set by Hindutva nationalists”, in Scroll.in:
   • Money mules play an important role in the scam ecosystem primarily to get money out of Singapore to the foreign syndicates and facilitate scams. 2024 February 7 (last accessed), “CDSA and CMA Bill Amendments”, in Singapore Police Force, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2024:

Forms

Deriveds

paleoecosystem · ecosystem engineer · geoecosystem · agroecosystem · technoecosystem · ecosystemic · mesoecosystem · palaeoecosystem · metaecosystem · macroecosystem · microecosystem

Hypernyms

system

Translations (72)

af ekosisteem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · mk екосистем (system of an ecological community and its environment) · eo ekosistemo (system of an ecological community and its environment) · si පරිසර පද්ධති (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ar نِظَام بِيئِي (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ru экосисте́ма (system of an ecological community and its environment) · vi hệ sinh thái (system of an ecological community and its environment) · la oecosystema (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ka ეკოსისტემა (system of an ecological community and its environment) · lt ekosistema (system of an ecological community and its environment) · sh екосѝсте̄м (system of an ecological community and its environment) · pt ecossistema (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ga éiceachóras (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ml ആവാസവ്യവസ്ഥ (system of an ecological community and its environment) · cmn 生態系 /生态系 (system of an ecological community and its environment) · sl ekosistem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · id tata lingkungan (system of an ecological community and its environment) · sv ekosystem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · oc ecosistèma (system of an ecological community and its environment) · nn økosystem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ast ecosistema (system of an ecological community and its environment) · lv ekosistēma (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ta சூழல் மண்டலம் (system of an ecological community and its environment) · sh екосу́став (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ms ekosistem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · pl ekosystem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · uk екосисте́ма (system of an ecological community and its environment) · as পৰিৱেশ তন্ত্ৰ (system of an ecological community and its environment) · fr écosystème (system of an ecological community and its environment) · id ekosistem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · te పర్యావరణ వ్యవస్థ (system of an ecological community and its environment) · hu ökoszisztéma (system of an ecological community and its environment) · mi pūnaha hauropi (system of an ecological community and its environment) · cs ekosystém (system of an ecological community and its environment) · fi ekosysteemi (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ja 生態系 (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ca ecosistema (system of an ecological community and its environment) · gl ecosistema (system of an ecological community and its environment) · fa اکوسیستم (system of an ecological community and its environment) · el οικοσύστημα (system of an ecological community and its environment) · bn বাস্তুতন্ত্র (system of an ecological community and its environment) · cmn 生態系統 /生态系统 (system of an ecological community and its environment) · it ecosistema (system of an ecological community and its environment) · es ecosistema (system of an ecological community and its environment) · kk экожүйе (system of an ecological community and its environment) · th ระบบนิเวศ (system of an ecological community and its environment) · is vistkerfi (system of an ecological community and its environment) · nb økosystem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · haw kaiaola (system of an ecological community and its environment) · tr ekosistem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · da økosystem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · hi पारितंत्र (system of an ecological community and its environment) · hy էկոհամակարգ (system of an ecological community and its environment) · de Ökosystem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · be экасістэ́ма (system of an ecological community and its environment) · sh ekosústav (system of an ecological community and its environment) · io ekosistemo (system of an ecological community and its environment) · et ökosüsteem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · br trevreizhad (system of an ecological community and its environment) · nan-hbl 生態系 /生态系 (system of an ecological community and its environment) · nl ecosysteem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ro ecosistem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · sh ekosìstēm (system of an ecological community and its environment) · gu નિવસન તંત્ર (system of an ecological community and its environment) · sw mfumo wa ikolojia (system of an ecological community and its environment) · my ဂေဟစနစ် (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ta சூழற்றொகுதி (system of an ecological community and its environment) · bg екосисте́ма (system of an ecological community and its environment) · zza ekosistem (system of an ecological community and its environment) · kn ಪರಿಸರ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ (system of an ecological community and its environment) · ko 생태계 (system of an ecological community and its environment) · bn বাস্তুসংস্থান (system of an ecological community and its environment)