''-logy'' is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

ending in ('). The earliest English examples were anglicizations of the French '' -logie'', which was in turn inherited from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

-logia ''-logy'' is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from Ancient Greek ending in ('). The earliest English examples were anglicizations of the French '' -logie'', which was in turn inherited from the Latin '' -logi ...

''. The suffix became productive in English from the 18th century, allowing the formation of new terms with no Latin or Greek precedent. The English suffix has two separate main senses, reflecting two sources of the suffix in Greek: *a combining form used in the names of school or bodies of knowledge, e.g., ''

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

'' (loaned from Latin in the 14th century) or ''

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

''. In words of the type ''

'', the suffix is derived originally from (''-log-'') (a variant of , ''-leg-''), from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

verb (''legein'', 'to speak')."-logy." ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology''. Oxford University Press, 1986. retrieved 20 August 2008. The suffix has the sense of "the character or deportment of one who speaks or treats of certain subject, or more succinctly, "the study of certain subject. (The Ancient Greek noun ' mentioned below can also be translated, among other things, as "subject matter".) *the root word nouns that refer to kinds of speech, writing or collections of writing, e.g., ''

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as ...

'' or ''

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

''. In words of this type, the "-logy" element is derived from the Greek noun (''

logos ''Logos'' (, ; grc, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive reasoning. Ari ...

'', 'speech', 'account', 'story'). The suffix has the sense of " certain kind ofspeaking or writing"."-logy." ''The Oxford English Dictionary'', Second Edition. Oxford University Press, 1989. retrieved 20 August 2008.

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

is an exception: while its meaning is closer to the first sense, the etymology of the word is similar to the second sense.

-logy versus -ology

In English names for fields of study, the suffix ''-logy'' is most frequently found preceded by the euphonic connective vowel ''o'' so that the word ends in ''-ology''. In these Greek words, the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

is always a noun and ''-o-'' is the combining vowel for all declensions of Greek nouns. However, when new names for fields of study are coined in modern English, the formations ending in ''-logy'' almost always add an ''-o-'', except when the root word ends in an "l" or a vowel, as in these exceptions:Words Ending In ogy : Words Ending With ogy
/ref> '' analogy'', ''dekalogy'', ''disanalogy'', ''

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

'', ''

genethlialogy Natal astrology is also known as Genethliacal Astrology, which implies nativity. It is a system of astrology that claims to shed light on an individual’s personality or path in life. This concept is based on constructing a horoscope or natal ...

'', '' hexalogy''; ''herbalogy'' (a variant of ''

herbology Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...

''), '' mammalogy'', '' mineralogy'', ''

paralogy Sequence homology is the biological homology between DNA, RNA, or protein sequences, defined in terms of shared ancestry in the evolutionary history of life. Two segments of DNA can have shared ancestry because of three phenomena: either a s ...

'', ''petralogy'' (a variant of '' petrology''); '' elogy'';

heptalogy A heptalogy (; from Greek ἑπτα- '' hepta-'', "seven" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse"), also known as a septology, is a compound literary or narrative work that is made up of seven distinct works. While not in wide usage, it has been ...

; ''

antilogy In traditional logic, a contradiction occurs when a proposition conflicts either with itself or established fact. It is often used as a tool to detect disingenuous beliefs and bias. Illustrating a general tendency in applied logic, Aristotle ...

'', '' festilogy''; ''

'', '' tetralogy'', ''

pentalogy A pentalogy (from Greek πεντα- '' penta-'', "five" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound literary or narrative work that is explicitly divided into five parts. Although modern use of the word implies both that the parts are r ...

''; '' palillogy'', '' pyroballogy''; '' dyslogy''; ''

''; and '' brachylogy''. Linguists sometimes jokingly refer to haplology as ''haplogy'' (subjecting the word ''haplology'' to the process of haplology itself).

Additional usage as a suffix

Per metonymy, words ending in ''-logy'' are sometimes used to describe a subject rather than the study of it (e.g., ''

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...

''). This usage is particularly widespread in medicine; for example, ''

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

'' is often used simply to refer to "the disease" itself (e.g., "We haven't found the pathology yet") rather than "the study of a disease". Books, journals, and treatises about a subject also often bear the name of this subject (e.g., the scientific journal ''

Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

''). When appended to other English words, the suffix can also be used humorously to create

nonce word A nonce word (also called an occasionalism) is a lexeme created for a single occasion to solve an immediate problem of communication.''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language''. Ed. David Crystal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ...

s (e.g., ''

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

ology'' as "the study of beer"). As with other

classical compound Neoclassical compounds are compound words composed from combining forms (which act as affixes or stems) derived from classical Latin or ancient Greek roots. New Latin comprises many such words and is a substantial component of the technical an ...

s, adding the suffix to an initial word-stem derived from Greek or

may be used to lend grandeur or the impression of scientific rigor to humble pursuits, as in ''cosmetology'' ("the study of beauty treatment") or ''cynology'' ("the study of dog training").

Compound series of works of art

The -logy or -ology suffix is commonly used to indicate finite series of art works like books or movies. For paintings, the "tych" suffix is more common (e.g.

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...

). Examples include: * Duology, for a series of 2 *

Trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

for 3 works * Tetralogy or quadrilogy for 4 works *

Pentalogy A pentalogy (from Greek πεντα- '' penta-'', "five" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound literary or narrative work that is explicitly divided into five parts. Although modern use of the word implies both that the parts are r ...

for 5 works * Hexalogy for 6 works *

Heptalogy A heptalogy (; from Greek ἑπτα- '' hepta-'', "seven" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse"), also known as a septology, is a compound literary or narrative work that is made up of seven distinct works. While not in wide usage, it has been ...

or septology for 7 works Further terms like octology have been coined but are rarely used: for a series of 10, sometimes "decalog" is used (e.g. in the

Virgin Decalog The ''Virgin Decalog'' books were collections of short stories published by Virgin Publishing based on the television series ''Doctor Who'': they gained their name from the fact that each volume contained ten stories (although the last collectio ...

) instead of "decalogy".

References

External links

The famous British "ology" advertisement
(a long list of fields of study, and a paragraph of exceptions at the bottom of the page)
Ology Words
It provides list of A–Z English words ending with the suffix -ology and their field of study
Ologies and Isms
* Ologies – Wikiversity {{DEFAULTSORT:-Logy

Logy ''-logy'' is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from Ancient Greek ending in ('). The earliest English examples were anglicizations of the French '' -logie'', which was in turn inherited from the Latin ''-logia ...

-logy versus -ology

Additional usage as a suffix

Compound series of works of art

See also

References

External links