ecology

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From German Ökologie (coined by Ernst Haeckel), from Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) + -λογία (-logía, “study of”)

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɛˈkɒlədʒi/, IPA(key): /ɪˈkɒlədʒi/
  • (US) enPR: ĕkŏlŏjĕ, IPA(key): /i.ˈkɑ.lə.dʒi/
  • Hyphenation: ecol‧ogy
  • Rhymes: -ɒlədʒi

Noun

ecology (countable and uncountable, plural ecologies)

  1. (biology) The branch of biology dealing with the relationships of organisms with their environment and with each other.
    • 1949 - Bruce Kiskaddon, George R. Stewart Earth Abides
      As a graduate student, he was working on a thesis: The Ecology of the Black Creek Area. He had to investigate the relationships, past and present, of men and plants and animals in this region.
    • 2012 January 1, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, page 31:
      As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations
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Translations to be checked

References

See also
  • Appendix:Glossary of ecology

Further reading
  • "ecology" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 110.
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