Biocontrol

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of employing living organisms to regulate pest populations in various environments
2. A strategy that involves the use of natural enemies to alleviate pest issues in agriculture or other ecosystems
3. A method that utilizes natural organisms to reduce harmful pest numbers in crops or natural settings

Etymology: Biocontrol is a straightforward compound: "bio-" from Ancient Greek "bíos" meaning "life", joined to "control". The "bio-" element is a modern combining form, so the word was built in English from Greek parts rather than handed down from antiquity, and it means controlling a pest with living enemies such as predators, parasites or pathogens. The second half has a longer ancestry. "Control" came into English through Middle English "controllen", borrowed from Middle French "contreroller", which was itself a shortening of Medieval Latin "contrarotulare". That Latin verb was built from "contrarotulus", a "counter-roll": a duplicate copy of an account, kept so that the official record could be checked against it. To control something originally meant to check it against a register, and only later to direct or restrain it.

Synonyms: biological control, natural control, ecological control, pest management, organic control

Antonyms: chemical control, toxic control, synthetic control, artificial control, industrial control