Standard Lemma guide

biomass

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈbaɪə(ʊ)mæs/
  • General-American: /ˈbaɪoʊˌmæs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: B AY1 AH0 M AE0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The total mass of a living thing or a part thereof (such as a cell).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the total mass of living matter in a given unit area

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: mass

5

noun

Meaning 5

plant materials and animal waste used as fuel

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fuel

History

Etymology

From bio- (prefix denoting organic life) + mass (“matter, material”).

Across languages

Translations

63 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: biomassa — total mass of a living thing or a part thereof
  • Polish: biomasa — total mass of a living thing or a part thereof
  • Welsh: biomas — total mass of a living thing or a part thereof
  • Arabic: كتلة بيولوجية — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Aragonese: biomasa — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Azerbaijani: biokütlə — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Catalan: biomassa — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Chinese Mandarin: 生物量 (shēngwùliàng) — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Czech: biomasa — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Dutch: biomassa — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Esperanto: biomaso — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Estonian: biomass — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Finnish: biomassa — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • French: biomasse — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Galician: biomasa — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • German: Biomasse — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Greek: βιομάζα (viomáza) — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Hebrew: בִּיּוֹמַסָּה (biyomása) — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Ido: biomaso — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Indonesian: biomassa — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Irish: bithmhais — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Japanese: バイオマス (baiomasu) — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Kazakh: биомасса (biomassa) — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Kyrgyz: биомасса (biomassa) — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Lithuanian: biomasė — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Macedonian: биома́са (biomása) — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Norwegian Bokmål: biomasse — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: biomasse — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Persian: زیستتوده — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Polish: biomasa — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Portuguese: biomassa — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Romanian: biomasă — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Russian: биома́сса (biomássa) — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Spanish: biomasa — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Swedish: biomassa — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Tagalog: haykimpal — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Turkish: biyokütle — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Ukrainian: біома́са (biomása) — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Vietnamese: sinh khối — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Vietnamese: sinh khối loài — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Welsh: biomas — total mass of all, or a specified category of, living things within a specific area, habitat, etc.
  • Catalan: biomassa — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 生物質能 /生物质能 (shēngwù zhìnéng) — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Czech: biomasa — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Dutch: biomassa — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Finnish: biomassa — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • French: biomasse — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • German: Biomasse — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Greek: βιομάζα (viomáza) — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Irish: bithmhais — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Italian: biomassa — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Kazakh: биомасса (biomassa) — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Khmer: ជីវម៉ាស (ciiwmaah) — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Macedonian: биома́са (biomása) — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Polish: biomasa — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Portuguese: biomassa — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Russian: биома́сса (biomássa) — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Spanish: biomasa — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Swedish: biomassa — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Tagalog: haykimpal — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Turkish: biyokütle — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Vietnamese: sinh khối — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
  • Welsh: biomas — organic matter from living things which were recently alive used as a fuel or source of energy
Real reading context

biomass in complete knowledge articles