Standard Lemma guide

bionics

noun · 3 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.

  • UK: /ˈbaɪˌɒnɪks/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The design of engineering systems, especially electronic ones, based on that of biological systems.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

biomimetics

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

application of biological principles to the study and design of engineering systems (especially electronic systems)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: engineering, engineering science, applied science, technology

History

Etymology

From bio- + electronics. Coined by US Air Force medical doctor Jack E. Steele in 1958 to refer to the "flow of concepts from biology to engineering and vice versa".

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: бионика (bionika) — engineering based on biological systems
  • Chinese Mandarin: 仿生學 /仿生学 (fǎngshēngxué) — engineering based on biological systems
  • Czech: bionika — engineering based on biological systems
  • Finnish: bioniikka — engineering based on biological systems
  • French: bionique — engineering based on biological systems
  • German: Bionik — engineering based on biological systems
  • Greek: βιονική (vionikí) — engineering based on biological systems
  • Irish: bitheonaic — engineering based on biological systems
  • Polish: bionika — engineering based on biological systems
  • Brazilian Portuguese: biônica — engineering based on biological systems
  • European Portuguese: biónica — engineering based on biological systems
  • Slovene: bionika — engineering based on biological systems
  • Spanish: biónica — engineering based on biological systems
  • Ukrainian: біо́ніка (biónika) — engineering based on biological systems
  • Vietnamese: phỏng sinh học — engineering based on biological systems