-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.

ethnozoologist (s) (noun), ethnozoologists (pl)
A person who specializes in ethnozoology: Ethnozoologists study the complex relationships between people of various cultures and the animals in the same environments.
ethnozoology (s) (noun) (no pl)
The investigation of the complex relationships between people and animals: Ethnozoology includes the analysis of human connections with, and the usage of, domesticated animals, and the management of wild animals for hunting and other purposes.

Ethnozoology also involves the study of the way various cultural groups make use of, interact with, or classify the animals of their environment.

Pointing to a page about ethnozoology. You will find more information about ethnozoology here.

ethologist
ethology
1. The study of the behavior of animals in their natural habitat, usually proposing evolutionary explanations.
2. The study of human character.
etiologist
1. Anyone who studies etiology or the science of cause.
2. Someone who strives to find the causes of diseases via research and various forms of medical investigations.
etiology, aetiology (British)
1. The study of causation.
2. Any study of causes, causation, or causality; as in philosophy, biology, or physics.
3. The study of the causes of diseases or medical disorders.
4. The cause or origin of a disease.

The word etiology is primarily used in medicine, where it refers to the science that deals with the causes or origins of diseases including the factors which produce or predispose toward a certain disease or disorder.

Today in medicine one often hears, or reads: "The etiology is unknown"; meaning: "We don't know the cause."

Aetiology is the preferred spelling in some countries, including the UK, whereas etiology, without an "a", is dominant in the United States.

etiopathology (s) (noun), etiopathologies (pl)
Pathogenesis or the mechanisms involved in the causes and developments of a disease: As part of her medical studies, Lois took a course in etiopathology in order to learn more about the origins of illnesses or malformations of a human being.
etymologist (s), (noun), etymologists (pl)
A lexicographer who specializes in trying to reconstruct information about languages that are too old for any direct data can be known; since so many have no written records for examinations.

By comparing words in related languages, people may learn about their shared parent languages and in this way, some word roots have been found which can be traced all the way back to the origin of the Indo-European language family.

An etymologist is a scholar who knows the difference between an etymologist and an entomologist.

—Evan Esar, from Esar's Comic Dictionary;
Doubleday & Company, Inc.; Garden City, New York; 1983; page 206.
etymology (s) (noun), etymologies (pl)
1. The origin and historical development of a linguistic form as shown by determining its basic elements, the earliest known uses, and changes in form and meanings: Etymology is the science or the study of original vocabulary meanings.
2. Tracing the transmissions of words from one language to another and identifying their relationships in other languages, and reconstructing their ancestral forms when possible: The English language has borrowed many roots from Greek and Latin; so, one important aspect of historical linguistics involves the etymology of words that come from those classical languages as well as some other contributing sources; such as, French, German, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, Indo-European, etc.

Through old texts and comparisons with other languages, etymology is an effort to reconstruct the history of words; when they entered a language, from what sources, and how their forms and meanings have changed.

etymythology (s) (noun), etymythologies (pl)
The term "etymology" is supposed to be the science or study of true and original word meanings; however, there are many erroneous beliefs about derivations, origins, and the consequent changes to words known as "folk etymology" or etymythology.
exoarchaeology, exoarcheology (s) (noun) (no pl)
In science fiction, a study of the physical remains of alien cultures; xenoarchaeology; xenoarcheology: Exoarchaeology is concerned with the remains found on planets, other than the Earth, which have been occupied by extraterrestrials.
exobiologist
1. One who studies life that originates on the outside, or exterior, of an organism.
2. One who studies extraterrestrial life.
exobiology
A branch of biology with a special interest in the search for life on other planets and elesewhere in the universe, and with the study of conditions that might give rise to extraterrestrial life, as well as the study of the effects of extraterrestrial environments.
exocrinology
1. The study of the exocrine glands and their secretions.
2. The study of substances secreted externally by individual organisms which effect integration of a group of organisms.
faunology (s) (noun), faunologies (pl)
That section of zoology that deals with the geographical distribution of animals; zoogeography.
A study of animals and their characteristics.
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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-.