-ology, -logy, -ologist, -logist
(Greek: a suffix meaning: to talk, to speak; a branch of knowledge; any science or academic field that ends in -ology which is a variant of -logy; a person who speaks in a certain manner; someone who deals with certain topics or subjects)
The word -ology is a back-formation from the names of certain disciplines. The -logy element basically means "the study of ____". Such words are formed from Greek or Latin roots with the terminal -logy derived from the Greek suffix -λογια (-logia), speaking, from λεγειν (legein), "to speak".
The suffix -ology is considered to be misleading sometimes as when the "o" is actually part of the word stem that receives the -logy ending; such as, bio + logy.
Through the years -ology and -logy have come to mean, "study of" or "science of" and either of these suffixes often utilize the form of -ologist, "one who (whatever the preceding element refers to)".
The examples shown in this unit represent just a small fraction of the many words that exist in various dictionaries.
2. The branch of anatomy and medicine that studies the structure and characteristics of skulls.
3. The study of variations in size, shape, and proportions of the skull (cranium).
Also known as phrenology, which was a pseudoscience of the 18th and 19th centuries based on the belief that the character of people could be learned by looking with care at the shape of their heads and noting each and every bump and depression on their skulls.
The individual mental faculties were believed to be contained in neat compartments in the cerebral cortex and the size of these faculties were supposed to be reflected by the configuration of the skull.
2. The study of life and its constituents below its normal living temperature, including cryogenic temperatures (below -80 degrees Centigrade).
2. In mechanical engineering, studying and researching refrigeration at low temperatures ranging down to absolute zero.
2. The procedures and methods of making and using secret languages: If a new word for cryptography were to be invented today, it would probably be "secret communications."
