-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.

zooplanktology (s) (noun), zooplanktologies (pl)
The biological study of tiny creatures that exist in oceans: Since Peter was so interested in small lifeforms of the sea, he decided to study zooplanktology and work later as a scientist.
zoopsychology (s) (noun) (no pl)
1. A branch of psychology that studies animal behavior: Marc was especially interested in animals, and particularly in their conduct and mental processes, their responses, and their reactions to stimuli.
zootheology (s) (noun), zootheologies (p)
The study of god-animals: Zootheology is the investigation and research of animal deities and of people's worship of them.
zymologist (s) (noun), zymologists (pl)
Someone who specializes in the branch of chemistry concerned with fermentation: A zymologist is skilled in making wine, brewing, or distilling alcoholic beverages and so it is necessary that he or she has a knowledge of the techniques in the breaking down of organic substances into simpler ones.
zymology (s) (noun) (no pl)
1. The branch of chemistry concerned with the properties and actions of enzymes: Since June lived in a grape growing section of the country, she was very interested in studying zymology so she could take over the winery of her parents.
2. The chemistry of fermentation: Zymology deals with the biochemical processes involved in fermentation, with yeast selection and physiology, as well as with the practical issues of beer and wine making.

Fermentation can be simply defined in zymology as the conversion of sugar molecules into ethanol and carbon dioxide with yeast.

zymotechnology (s) (noun) (no pl)
The scientific study of the principles of fermentation: Zymotechnolgy was an area of biotechnology that interested Bruce very much because it involved the brewing techniques for beer.
Cross references of word families related directly, or indirectly, to: "talk, speak, speech; words, language; tongue, etc.": cit-; clam-; dic-; fa-; -farious; glosso-; glotto-; lalo-; linguo-; locu-; logo-; loqu-; mythico-; ora-; -phasia; -phemia; phon-; phras-; Quotes: Language,Part 1; Quotes: Language, Part 2; Quotes: Language, Part 3; serm-; tongue; voc-.