species-biased
|spe-cies-bi-ased|
/ˈspiːʃiːz ˈbaɪəst/
favoring a particular species
Etymology
'species-biased' originates from Modern English, specifically a compound of 'species' (ultimately from Latin 'species') and 'biased' (from 'bias'), where 'species' meant 'kind; appearance' and 'bias' meant 'an inclination or slant'.
'species' passed into English from Latin 'species' via Middle English, retaining the sense of 'kind' or 'appearance'; 'bias' entered English from Old Provençal/French 'biais' (meaning 'oblique' or 'slant') in the 16th century and later formed the past-participle adjective 'biased'; the compound 'species-biased' is a modern English coinage combining these elements to describe partiality with respect to species.
Initially, 'species' denoted 'appearance' or 'kind' and 'bias' denoted a 'slant' or 'inclination'; over time the compound came to mean 'showing partiality or systematic preference toward particular species' in modern usage.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
showing a preference for or partiality toward one or more species over others; not neutral with respect to species.
The conservation policy was criticized as species-biased because it prioritized charismatic mammals over less visible insects.
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Adjective 2
in research or data contexts: describing studies, sampling, or methods that overrepresent or systematically favor particular species, producing skewed results.
The dataset is species-biased, with most records coming from a few common birds, which limits the study's generality.
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Last updated: 2025/11/30 01:22