-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.

abiology (s) (noun), abiologies (pl)
1. The study of nonliving or inanimate things: As an alternate to studying biology in school, her son decided to study abiology so he could learn more about inanimate things.
2. The scientific study of things that are not living; in other words, all of the science except those that are biological: Chemistry is an example of one of the abiologies that people have studied.
abiophysiology (s) (noun), abiophysiologies (pl)
The study of inorganic processes or functions in living species: Abiophysiology involves research in the physical and chemical phenomena of living organisms as distinguished from the living matter; such as, organs, tissues, or cells.
academic anthropologist (s) (noun), academic anthropologists (pl)
Those who are involved in the teaching about members of humanity at colleges and universities: Academic anthropologists do research; however, their objectives are usually more for the contributions they can make to the general knowledge people.
academic anthropology (s) (noun), academic anthropologies (pl)
Educational courses that involve the teaching about the comparative study of human societies and cultures and their development: Academic anthropology involves research about mankind throughout history and in modern times.
acanthologist (s) (nouns), acanthologists (pl)
A person who studies spiny creatures: Jim's father was an acanthologist who was a specialist in sea urchins and worms with spiny-heads and classified them into taxonomic groups.
acanthology (s) (noun), acanthologies (pl)
The study of spiny organisms: Acanthology deals particularly with sea urchins and certain spiny-headed worms, and with their structures and functions.
acarologist (s) (noun), acarologists (pl)
A specialist in acarology or the scientific study of mites and ticks: Dick's father was an acarologist and worked together with other experts in a lab doing research on arachnids.
acarology (s) (noun) (no pl)
A branch of zoology that involves the study of mites and ticks: Mrs. Smith was absolutely amazed at the information she read about acarology, and thought that she should clean and purify her house again!

"There are thousands and thousands of sub-visible dust mites in every home, regardless of how often it is cleaned. It sounds unpleasant, but is quite normal."

"Our houses are hosts to these creatures which are ultra-tiny (so small they were only first discovered in 1965) which live in human carpets, in our beds, on our food, floating in the air, in fact, they are omnipresent."

—David Bodanis in The Secret House;
Simon & Schuster, Inc.; New York; 1986; page 14.
acology (s) (noun) (no pl)
1. The science of remedies; therapeutics: Lance learned that the term acology was used rarely and referred to the medical language for the official study of therapeutics, or the treatment of diseases.
2. The science and art of healing: Kitty wanted to take a practicum in acology and learn more about the alternative methods of healing and the body processes involved in recovery.
3. Materia medica; the science of remedies.
  • Material or substance used in the composition of remedies. Acology is a general term for all substances used as curative agents in medicine.
  • Acology is that branch of medical science which treats the nature and properties of all the substances that are employed for the cure of diseases.
acridology (s) (noun) (no pl)
The scientific study of grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets: Since she was a little girl, Lynn was intrigued by grasshoppers and wanted to learn more about them, and so she began to take courses in acridology at the university in her city.

Extending her abdomen to about twice its normal length, a female locust deposits a pod of some 70 rice-size eggs four inches deep in moist sand.

Sensors at the end of her tail test moisture, salinity, temperature, and the softness of the ground to ensure that conditions are proper for laying her eggs.

To hatch, the eggs must absorb their weight in water, ideally in the first five days. During the last weeks of her four-month life, the gregarious female lays three times, usually a total of about 200 eggs.

Big-eyed hoppers hatch from the warm sands. The locusts promptly shed their natal skins, turn dark after about two hours in the sun, and within a few days they begin to move off in dense swarms.

—Compiled from "Locusts: 'Teeth of the Wind' ";
by Robert A.M. Conley; National Geographic;
August, 1969; page 216-217.
acrology (s) (noun), acrologies (pl)
In the development of alphabetic writing, a principle involving the use of initial sounds or signs in accordance with which letters have been evolved, named, and used: An example of acarology is the use of "A" as the first sound of the Geek term "alpha".
acropathology (s) (noun) (no pl)
The study of diseases that affect the extremities, such as the hands, fingers, feet, and toes: Because hands and fingers are so frequently used and are susceptible to injury, including cuts, burns, bites, fractures, and even tendon injuries, the research dealing with acropathology is quite important in finding cures for such ailments.

Acropathology also involves the feet and toes. Such ailments are athlete's foot, a fungal infection that primarily affects the skin between the toes and causes itchiness, sores, and cracked skin, and affects ingrown toenails of the big toes resulting in inflammation of the surrounding tissue.

actinobiology (s) (noun) (no pl)
The study of the effects of radiation on living organisms; radiation biology: Actinobiology, the science concerning the action of ionising radiation on living creatures, is especially concerned with the effects of this on living creatures.
actinology (s) (noun) (no pl)
The science of photochemistry or the science of the chemical effects of light in the violet and ultraviolet wavelengths: Joe was very interested in the actinology of the South Atlantic and decided to learn more about this area of science.

The study of radiant energy is investigated in the field of actinolgy.

acuologist (s) (noun), acuologists (pl)
A specialist in the use of needles for therapeutic reasons: Dr. Black, an acuologist, suggested a treatment with special acupuncture needles to relieve Sally's back pains.
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-.