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Biology vocabulary · Animal Biology and Physiology

Homeostasis

Meaning in biology, with examples

/ˌhoʊmioʊˈsteɪsɪs/nounCore term

In biology, homeostasis means: The ability of an organism or cell to keep its internal conditions, such as temperature, water balance and blood sugar, stable while the outside world changes.

In Turkish: homeostazi, homeostaz, iç denge

How it is used

Usually works through negative feedback: a change is detected and the body responds to reverse it. Examples include sweating when hot and insulin release after a meal. The adjective is homeostatic. Stress: ho-me-o-STA-sis.

Example sentences

  1. The kidneys play a central role in water homeostasis.

  2. Diabetes is a failure of glucose homeostasis.

Common collocations

  • maintain homeostasis
  • glucose homeostasis
  • negative feedback
  • disrupt homeostasis
  • hormoneA chemical messenger made in one part of an organism and carried, often in the blood, to target cells elsewhere, where it changes their activity.
  • metabolismAll the chemical reactions that take place in a living thing to keep it alive, including breaking down food for energy and building new molecules.
  • immune systemThe network of cells, tissues and organs that protects the body from pathogens and other harmful substances, and remembers threats it has met before.
  • neuronA nerve cell that carries information as electrical and chemical signals. It has dendrites that receive signals and an axon that passes them on.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Animal Biology and Physiology

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