Standard Lemma guide

sociobiology

noun · 2 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: /ˌsəʊ.si.əʊ.baɪˈɒ.lə.d͡ʒi/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌsəʊ.ʃ(i.)-/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌsoʊ.si.oʊˌbaɪˈɑ.lɑ.d͡ʒi/
  • General-American: /ˌsoʊʃ(i.)-/
  • rhymes with -ɒlədʒi

1

noun

Meaning 1

The science that applies the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of social behaviour in both humans and animals.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: biosociology

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the branch of biology that conducts comparative studies of the social organization of animals (including human beings) with regard to its evolutionary history

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: biology, biological science

History

Etymology

From socio- + biology, popularized by E. O. Wilson's Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (1975).

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: sosiobiologia — science that applies the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of social behaviour
  • German: Soziobiologie — science that applies the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of social behaviour
  • Hungarian: szociobiológia — science that applies the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of social behaviour
  • Polish: socjobiologia — science that applies the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of social behaviour
  • Polish: biosocjologia — science that applies the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of social behaviour
  • Portuguese: sociobiologia — science that applies the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of social behaviour
  • Swedish: sociobiologi — science that applies the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of social behaviour
  • Tagalog: ulnuhaynayan — science that applies the principles of evolutionary biology to the study of social behaviour