-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 study of the origin, development, and manifestations of mental or behavioral disorders.
3. The pathology of mental disorders; the branch of medicine which deals with the causes and nature of mental disease.
4. Research into the causes and development of psychiatric disorders; as well as, abnormal, maladaptive behavior or mental activity.
2. The science of drug-behavior relationships; which is also known by some specialists as neuropsychopharmacology.
3. The study of drugs that affect mental and behavioral activity; such as, psycholeptic agents.
4. The study of the action of drugs on psychological functions and mental states.
5. The use of drugs to modify psychological functions and mental states.