-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.
Susan was very fascinated with the handwriting in ancient books and her enthusiasm for it started with the diaries she inherited from her grandfather; so, she decided to study codicology so she could gain a better understanding!"
2. Etymology: from Latin codex, genitive form of codicis, "notebook" or "book". The suffix is from Greek, legein, "the study of a specific subject."2. The branch of topology used to study simple components of geometric forms.
2. Someone who is a specialist in the branch of zoology that deals with the study of mollusks and shells.
3. A name given to the carrier-shell molluscs, based on their habit of attaching other shells, stones, etc., to their own shells.
2. The hobby of shell collecting.
3. The science or study of shells and shell-fish.
4. A branch of zoology dealing with sea shells and the animals that inhabit them.
Conchology is the scientific study of shells of mollusks, a branch of malacology.
Conchologists (practitioners of conchology) may study animal shells to gain an understanding of the diverse and complex taxonomy of mollusks, or simply appreciate them for their aesthetic value.
Conchologists deal mainly with gastropods (snails), bivalves, Polyplacophora (chitons) and Scaphopoda (tusk shells).
Shell collecting, the "ancestor" or precurser of conchology, goes as far back as there have been people and beaches.
Someone walking on a beach picked up a shell for its beauty and then very likely would go out the next day to look for more specimens. This is still going on around the world wherever shells can still be found.
2. The study of pornography.
2. Anyone who investigates and studies the effects of cosmic phenomena on earthly life.
2. The investigation and study of the effects of cosmic phenomena on life.
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2. The metaphysical study of the origin and nature of the universe.
3. Etymology: derived from the Greek kosmos, "order, harmony, the world" plus logos, "word, discourse".
In the broadest sense of the word, cosmology is that branch of learning which studies the universe as an ordered system.
Cosmology is confined to a description of the salient features of the observed universe, in terms of such categories as space, time, and matter; leaving questions concerning the origin, inner nature, and purpose of the universe to the related branches of cosmogony (branch of astrophysics that studies the origin and evolution and structure of the universe), ontology (metaphysical, or the philosophical study of the nature of being and existence), and teleology (study of ultimate causes in nature).
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.
