Arikah Map

-logy

(Redirected from Ology)

Suffixes
-archy
-Biology suffixes
-cide
-cracy
-cycle
-gate
-genesis
-hood
-ic
-illion
-ism
-ist
-kinesis
-mania
-nik
-graphy
-oid
-logy
-ome
-omics
-nomy
-onym
-ous
-phil-
-phob-
-phone
-polis
-scope
-stan
-ville
-ware

The English suffix -ology or -logy denotes a field of study or academic discipline, and -ologist describes a person who studies that field. However not every field or study or discipline is an '-ology', for instance the study of childbirth is midwifery and a practitioner is a midwife

Etymology

The word ology is a back-formation from the names of these disciplines. "-logy" 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 word ology is thus misleading as the 'o' is actually part of the word stem that receives the -logy ending. For example, the bio part of biology stems from Greek βιος (bios), life. This is why some of the words do not end in -ology (such as mineralogy).

Other words ending in "ology"

Not all words ending in -ology are ologies in the above sense. In some words such as tautology and haplology, the -logy suffix is from the Greek λογος (logos), word, and denotes not a field of study but a type of speech or writing. For example, haplology means the mistake of saying one letter, syllable or word when two or more are required, as in the example of pronouncing the word February somewhat like "Febuary". Another example would be pronouncing library as "libery".

Usage

Although technically incorrect, "-ology" is sometimes used to describe a subject rather than the study of it. Technology is a typical example. This usage is also widespread in medicine; for example, pathology is often used for specific disease ("We have not found the pathology yet").

"Ology" can be appended to any word, humorously, when describing its study; such as beer-ology or Wiki-ology.

There are a few irregular exceptions to the ending "-ologist"; for example theology/theologian.

A famous British television commercial of the 1980s has a Jewish student calling his grandmother (played by Maureen Lipman) to confirm his exam results. He is disappointed that he has only passed Sociology, but his grandmother will have none of it. "Anthony", she insists, "if you get an ology, you're a scientist!"

See also

List of -ologies

 : Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


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Ologies that are not fields of study

Words ending in -ology that are not fields of study, and thus not "ologies" in the sense of this article, are:

Categories


Greek suffixes | Suffixes

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