The suffix -ology is commonly used in the English language to denote a field of study. The ology ending is a combination of the letter o plus logy in which the letter o is used as an interconsonantal letter which, for phonological reasons, precedes the morpheme suffix logy. Logy is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from Ancient Greek ending in ().
English names for fields of study are usually created by taking a root (the subject of the study) and appending the suffix logy to it with the interconsonantal o placed in between (with an exception explained below). For example, the word dermatology comes from the root dermato plus logy. Sometimes, an excrescence, the addition of a consonant, must be added to avoid poor construction of words.
There are additional uses for the suffix, such as to describe a subject rather than the study of it (e.g., duology). The suffix is often humorously appended to other English words to create nonce words. For example, stupidology would refer to the study of stupidity; beerology would refer to the study of beer.
Not all scientific studies are suffixed with ology. When the root word ends with the letter "L" or a vowel, exceptions occur. For example, the study of mammals would take the root word mammal and append ology to it, resulting in mammalology, but because of its final letter being an "L", it instead creates mammalogy. There are also exceptions to this exception. For example, the word angelology with the root word angel, ends in an "L" but is not spelled angelogy according to the "L" rule.Eric Partridge, Origins, 2nd ed., New York, Macmillan, 1959
The terminal -logy is used to denote a discipline. These terms often utilize the suffix -logist or -ologist to describe one who studies the topic. In this case, the suffix ology would be replaced with ologist. For example, one who studies biology is called a biologist.
This list of words contains all words that end in ology. In addition to words that denote a field of study, it also includes words that do not denote a field of study for clarity, indicated in orange. As of April 2026 the list below contains 974 -ology words.
A
-ology Word Description Synonyms Alternative spellings abiology“Abiology, N.” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, July 2023. The study of inanimate, inorganic, or lifeless things. abiophysiology"abiophysiology." Segen's Medical Dictionary. Farlex, 2011. via The Free Dictionary by Farlex, Inc.. Assessed September 24, 2024. The study of inorganic processes in biological systems. acanthochronology The study of cactus spines or euphorbia thorns grown in time ordered sequence. acanthology“Acanthology.” Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster.com. Accessed September 24, 2024. The study of spined things, in particular sea urchins, and the resultant impact on taxonomy. acarology The study of mites and ticks. accentology The systematic analysis of word or phrase stress and accentuation in language. aceology The science of remedies or therapeutics.iamatology acology The science of medical remedies, Materia Medica. acridology The study of grasshoppers and locusts (infraorder Acrididea). acropathologyVenes, Donald, editor. "Acropathology." Taber's Medical Dictionary, 24th ed., F.A. Davis Company, 2021. via Taber's Online. Accessed September 24, 2024. The study of diseases affecting limbs. actinobiology The study of the effects of radiation upon living organisms. actinology The study of the effect of light on chemicals.acyrology The incorrect use of language.cacology adenology The branch of medicine dealing with the development, structure, function, and diseases of glands. aedoeology The study of generative organs and processes aerobiology A branch of biology that studies organic particles, such as bacteria, fungal spores, very small insects, pollen grains and viruses, which are passively transported by the air. aerolithology The study of meteorites. aerogeology“Aerogeology.” Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster.com. Accessed September 24, 2024. The study of geological features by aerial observation and aerophotography. aerology The branch of meteorology involving the observation of the atmosphere by means of balloons, airplanes, etc. The study of the air and of the atmosphere; used in the US Navy until early 1957.meteorology aeropalynologyBiesboer, David. “Aeropalynology.” The American Biology Teacher 39, no. 2 (1977): 88–92. The study of pollen grains and spores (palynomorphs) in the atmosphere. aetiology The establishment of a cause, origin, or reason for something. The study of causes or causation. The study or investigation of the causes of disease; a scientific explanation for the origin of a disease.3. etiology ætiology agathology The science or theory of the good or goodness. agmatology"agmatology." -Ologies & -Isms. The Gale Group, Inc., 2008. via The Free Dictionary by Farlex. Accessed September 24, 2024. The branch of medical science that studies fractures. agnoiology The study of things of which humans are by nature ignorant, or of things which cannot be known.agniology agnoeology agnotology The study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data.agnatology agriology The comparative study of primitive, illiterate, or "savage" cultures. agrobiology The science of plant nutrition and growth concerning soil conditions, especially to determine ways to increase crop yields. agroclimatology“Agroclimatology.” Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster.com. Accessed September 24, 2024. The study of meteorological, climatological, and hydrological conditions that are significant for agriculture owing to their interaction with the objects and processes of agricultural production. agroecology The study of ecological processes that operate in agricultural production systems. agrogeology The study of the origins of minerals known as agrominerals and their applications. agrology The science and art of agriculture. A sub-discipline of soil science which addresses optimizing crop production (common usage, not acceptable to soil scientists) A sub-discipline of agronomy which addresses the influence of edaphic conditions on crop production. agrometeorology The study of weather and the use of weather and climate information to enhance or expand agricultural crops and/or to increase crop production. agrostology The scientific study of the grasses (family Poaceae).graminology agrotechnology The application of modern technology to agriculture. aitiology The study of causation, or origination. The causes of diseases or pathologies. (medicine)etiology aetiology ætiology Albanology An interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the language, costume, literature, art, culture, and history of Albanians. alethiology The study of the nature of truth or aletheia.alethology algology The medical treatment of pain as practiced in Greece and Turkey. The branch of botany dealing with algae.2. phycology alimentology"alimentology." -Ologies & -Isms. The Gale Group, Inc., 2008. via The Free Dictionary by Farlex. Accessed September 24, 2024. The study of nutrition. allergology The study of the causes and treatment of allergies. alphabetology“Alphabetology.” Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster.com. Accessed September 24, 2024. The study of alphabetic systems of writing. amphibiology“Amphibiology.” Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster.com.Accessed September 24, 2024. The branch of zoology that deals with the class Amphibia.amphibology A situation where a sentence may be interpreted in more than one way due to ambiguous sentence structure.amphiboly anaplastology The branch of medicine dealing with the prosthetic rehabilitation of an absent, disfigured, or malformed anatomically critical location of the face or body. anatripsology“Anatripsology, N.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, July 2023. The study of friction as a remedy in medicine. andrology The medical specialty that deals with male health, particularly relating to the problems of the male reproductive system and urological problems that are unique to men. anemology The study of wind. anesthesiology The branch of medical science that studies and applies anesthetics and anesthesia. angelology The study of angels. angiology The study of the anatomy of blood and lymph vascular systems. angiopathologyVenes, Donald, editor. "Angiopathology." Taber's Medical Dictionary, 24th ed., F.A. Davis Company, 2021. Taber's Online. The pathology of diseased blood vessels.antapology"antapology." Farlex Trivia Dictionary. Farlex, Inc., 2011. via The Free Dictionary by Farlex. Accessed September 24, 2024 The reply to an apology. anthoecology“Anthoecology.” Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster.com. Accessed September 24, 2024. The branch of ecology that studies the relationship of flowers to their environment.anthology A published collection of poems or other pieces of writing. anthropobiology The study of the biological relationships of humans as a species.bioanthropology anthropology The holistic scientific and social study of humanity, mainly using ethnography as its method.anthropomorphology“Anthropomorphology.” Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster.com. Accessed 24 Sep. 2024. The attribution of human characteristics to God. anthroposociology The anthropological and sociological study of race to establish certain people's superiority. anthrozoology The study of the interactions between humans and animals.antitechnology A philosophy opposing technology. aphasiology The study of linguistic problems or aphasias resulting from brain damage. aphnology"aphnology." -Ologies & -Isms. The Gale Group, Inc., 2008. via The Free Dictionary by Farlex. Accessed September 24, 2024. The study of wealth.plutology apicology The study of honey bee ecology. apiology The scientific study of honey bees and honey-making.apidologyapology An acknowledgement for a failure or mistake. arachnology The scientific study of spiders and related animals such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, and harvestmen, collectively called arachnids. araneology The branch of arachnology that deals with spiders. archaeogeology"Archaeogeology, N.“ Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, September 2024. The branch of geology that studies the geological formations of the past. archeology The study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. archeozoology The study of faunal remains or the items left behind when an animal dies.zooarcheology archology The study of the science of governance or the origin of things.arcologyThe field of creating architectural design principles for very densely populated, ecologically low-impact human habitats. areology The study of the planet Mars' geology. aretology The part of moral philosophy which treats virtue, its nature, and the means of attaining it.