organic

UK/ɔːˈɡænɪk/US/oɹˈɡænɪk/

adjectiveB2+4 meanings Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,026 of 15,258leans written

Organic food is grown without artificial pesticides or fertilisers — the label on the more expensive carrots. Organic milk, an organic veg box on the doorstep, an organic farm that has not sprayed a field in twenty years.

In Britain and across Europe that label is a legal claim with inspections behind it, not a compliment a shop can hand itself. In chemistry organic means built around carbon: organic compounds, organic chemistry, an entire branch of the subject. A third sense covers anything that comes from living things — organic matter in the soil, organic waste in the food bin. And then the figurative one: organic growth is growth from within rather than by buying up rivals, and an organic whole is one where the parts genuinely belong together. Organ and organism are close relatives.

Definitions of organic

1adjectiveorganicGrown or raised without artificial chemicals.B2+~38%
“They only buy organic vegetables from the market.”
- Said"Is this organic? The label's come off and I promised her."
- WrittenThe organic stall charged twice the price, and the queue was twice as long.
- UsedBuy organic for the fruit you eat with the skin on.
- ContrastOrganic, not fresh. Fresh is about time since picking; organic is about how it was grown. fresh →
- Not thisHome-grown is not automatically organic. Organic means no artificial chemicals, not just your garden.
- HeadlineOrganic sales rise for tenth year running
- SimplyThe apples are organic. Nothing was put on them.
Patternorganic + noun (food, farming, vegetables) · certified organic · go organic · organically grown
2adjectivechemistryIn chemistry, to do with compounds built around carbon.B2+~25%
“Organic chemistry is her strongest subject.”
3adjectivecomingComing from living things.B2~25%
“Organic matter builds up in the top layer of soil.”
4adjectivedevelopingDeveloping naturally from within, rather than being forced or bought.C1~12%
“The company favours organic growth over buying up rivals.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 10 sentences found in the wild and placed 8 of them on a sense (2 were unclear) — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

Remember it

It comes from the same word as organ, the working parts of a living body: organic food comes from living things grown the natural way, with nothing added in a factory.

hooks ontoorgan

Also practised as

adjectiveTo do with compounds built around carbon.

Where it comes from

Middle English organic came from Old French organique, and that from Latin organicus. The trail runs back to the Proto-Indo-European root *werǵ-, the root that also lies behind work. The carbon meaning is the newcomer; the old idea is anything belonging to a working, living body.

Proto-Indo-European
*werǵ-
Latin
organicus
Old French
organique
Middle English
organic
English, today
organic

From Middle English organic, organik, from Old French organique, from Latin organicus.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in In the Kitchen

Practise this word

organic in the wild

Because of carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known.
Organic compound
An ordinary law is a normal law, generally distinguished from a constitutional law, organic law, or other similar law.
Ordinary law
Tetanus occurs in all parts of the world but is most frequent in hot and wet climates where the soil has a high organic content.
Tetanus
Forms of mercury exposure include metal, vapor, salt, and organic compound.
Mercury poisoning
All of Amy's 250+ products are vegetarian and made with organic ingredients.
Amy's Kitchen

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the organique family

organic

organic — used about once every 781 pages · #4,026 · point at the bar for the others

Definitions of organic

1adjectiveorganicGrown or raised without artificial chemicals.B2+~38%

“They only buy organic vegetables from the market.”

Said"Is this organic? The label's come off and I promised her."
WrittenThe organic stall charged twice the price, and the queue was twice as long.
UsedBuy organic for the fruit you eat with the skin on.
ContrastOrganic, not fresh. Fresh is about time since picking; organic is about how it was grown. fresh →
Not thisHome-grown is not automatically organic. Organic means no artificial chemicals, not just your garden.
HeadlineOrganic sales rise for tenth year running
SimplyThe apples are organic. Nothing was put on them.

Patternorganic + noun (food, farming, vegetables) · certified organic · go organic · organically grown

2adjectivechemistryIn chemistry, to do with compounds built around carbon.B2+~25%

“Organic chemistry is her strongest subject.”

3adjectivecomingComing from living things.B2~25%

“Organic matter builds up in the top layer of soil.”

4adjectivedevelopingDeveloping naturally from within, rather than being forced or bought.C1~12%

“The company favours organic growth over buying up rivals.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 10 sentences found in the wild and placed 8 of them on a sense (2 were unclear) — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.