Biodynamic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to a form of agriculture that merges ecological principles with organic practices, while considering spiritual influences on the natural environment and crop growth
2. Describing farming techniques that prioritize ecological harmony, utilize organic inputs, and incorporate a holistic view of nature’s rhythms affecting plant development
3. Pertaining to a sustainable agricultural approach that integrates organic farming practices with an emphasis on natural cycles and their spiritual significance in fostering plant vitality

Etymology: Biodynamic farming was founded by Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian philosopher, in a series of lectures given in 1924 at Koberwitz, in what is now Poland. Steiner proposed a farming method that treated the farm as a living organism and drew on spiritual ideas about the influence of cosmic forces, such as the phases of the moon and planetary rhythms, on soil and crops. The term itself combines "bio-", from Ancient Greek "bíos" meaning "life," with "dynamic," which comes from Ancient Greek "dúnamis," meaning "power" or "force." The Greek root "dúnamis" also gave English "dynamic," which entered the language in the 1600s as a term in physics for things set in motion by force. Its Greek ancestry is why "dynamic" and "biodynamic" share a sense of energy at work, though in the modern compound that energy is meant to be the vital forces of living systems rather than mechanical ones.

Synonyms: organic, holistic