physiological

physiological — adjective

1. connected with the normal jobs a living body does inside, such as breathing, sle

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

connected with the normal jobs a living body does inside, such as breathing, sleep, temperature control, or hormone balance.

Example

Lack of sleep can cause physiological changes in teenage athletes.

collocation: physiological changes

Doctors watched Mia's physiological response as the medicine reached her blood.

collocation: physiological response

Common collocations
  • physiological change
  • physiological response
  • physiological need
  • physiological rhythm
Synonyms
  • bodily

    more direct and often more formal, especially in medical writing

  • physical

    broader and not always focused on internal body function

  • biological

    broader and can include plants, cells, or life processes beyond the body

Antonyms
  • psychological

    connected with the mind or emotions rather than body processes

Grammar Patterns

physiological + change

physiological + response

physiological + need

Usage Note

Often used with nouns like change, response, need, rhythm, and effect. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense describes body processes themselves, while sense 2 is about the science that studies them.

Common Mistakes

Stress caused several psychological changes in his heart rate.
Stress caused several physiological changes in his heart rate.
'psychological' is about the mind; 'physiological' is about body function.

2. belonging to the science that examines how living bodies carry out their usual f

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

belonging to the science that examines how living bodies carry out their usual functions.

Example

The paper offers a physiological explanation for how whales hold breath.

collocation: physiological explanation

Her professor praised the physiological study of sleep in newborn babies.

collocation: physiological study

Common collocations
  • physiological study
  • physiological research
  • physiological theory
  • physiological model
Synonyms
  • biological

    broader and not limited to the study of body function

  • medical

    broader and often about illness, treatment, or patient care

  • anatomical

    focuses on body structure rather than how the body works

Grammar Patterns

physiological + study

physiological + research

physiological + theory

Usage Note

Usually appears before nouns such as study, research, explanation, theory, and model. Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 describes a bodily process, but this sense labels ideas and work from the subject of physiology.

Common Mistakes

She teaches physiological at the university.
She teaches physiology at the university.
the subject name is the noun 'physiology', not the adjective 'physiological'.

Word family

  • physiology
    nounC1
  • physiologically
    adverbC2
  • physiologist
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

For sense 1, physiological is used when you mean the body's normal working systems, such as breathing, sleep, temperature, or hormones. Bodily is often more direct and slightly more formal, and it commonly appears in phrases about harm, pain, or movement. Physical is broader: it may describe the body, but it can also mean real, material, or forceful. Biological is broader still, since it can cover plants, cells, genes, and whole living systems, not just body function. Compare: Stress caused a physiological response in her pulse. The fall caused bodily pain. Daily exercise improves physical health. Light affects many biological processes in plants.

bodily ↗physical ↗biological ↗

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Physiological was formed from physiology and the adjective ending -ical. Physiology came into English through Latin and French from Greek roots meaning 'nature' and 'study'. That history explains why physiological can describe either body functions themselves or the science that studies those functions.