-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.

leptonomorphology
The morphology (form and structure of) of membranes.
leukocytology
lexicologist (s) (noun), lexicologists (pl)
Someone who studies the meanings and origins of words.
lexicology (s) (noun), lexicologies (pl)
A branch of linguistics dealing with the use and meanings of words and the relationships between various structures of vocabulary: "Lexicology involves the study of words, their nature and meanings, word elements, semantic relations, word groups, and even whole dictionaries."
limnobiology
limnobiology
1. The biology (study of life forms) of lakes and ponds.
2. The study of organisms living in lakes, ponds, and other standing freshwater bodies.
limnologist
limnology
lipodologist
A specialist in the effects of fat.
lipodology
The study of fat and its effects on the body.
lithology (s) (noun), lithologies (pl)
The study and description of the general, gross physical characteristics of a rock, including its color, structure, texture, grain size, mineral composition, and arrangement of its component parts: Specifically, one kind of lithology is research of the structural aspects of a coal bed and coal texture obtained from the macroscopic and microscopic analysis of coal.
The study of various kinds of stones.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

logologist
Someone who studies words.
logology, logological
1. The study of words.
2. The science of words, especially the field of orthographic (correct spelling) and homophonic word games.
Many people get unlimited mileage out of a limited vocabulary.
—Graffiti
ludology (s) (noun), ludologies (pl)
The study of games, in particular computer and video games: There are several colleges and universities in North America that offer some form of "video game studies", or ludology, ranging from computer science to prepare students for game-making careers to critiques of games as cultural interactions.

Ludology focuses on game designing, players, and their role in society and culture.

luminologist (s) (noun), luminologists (pl)
1. Someone who studies the shimmering or glowing phenomena of lambency in living organisms: The Marine University hired Dr. Lawson, a renown luminologist, to chair the department which studied the underwater plant and animal life which produce a vivid luster.
2. A person who is versed in the study of books with colored illustrations: As a result of her artistic abilities and specialization in ancient manuscripts, Julie was hired by the library as a luminologist to catalogue and repair the illuminations in the manuscript collection.
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-.