-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.
2. The study or science of tuberculosis.
2. Someone who studies the functions of a living organism or any of its parts.
3. A biologist specializing in physiology.
2. The biological study of the functions of living organisms and their parts.
3. All the functions of a living organism or any of its parts.
4. The way a particular body or organism works.
This is a branch of medical science that deals with the healthy functions of different organs, and the changes that the whole body undergoes in the course of its activities.
2. The study of major constituents (active ingredients) and medicinal values of plants; toxicity or hazardous components; essential oils; value-added products and possible uses; cultivation and harvesting; diseases and insects found in medicinal plants.
3. The study of the active chemicals in plants that effect our biological systems. The plants' chemical components are studied for medical and psychoactive reactions.
Many of the chemicals of plants mimic our own bodily chemicals and in some instances enhance the normal reactions that would occur; however, sometimes they block the normal functions of our neural and other cellular functions. These are factors that must be evaluated in the phytopharmacological research of plants.
