oology

See also: oölogy

English
WOTD – 11 October 2019

Etymology
A nest of eggs laid by a shorebird at the Cape Krusenstern National Monument in Alaska, USA. Oology (sense 2), the practice of collecting such eggs, is now illegal in many countries as it harms wildlife.

oo- (“prefix meaning ‘relating to eggs or ova’”) +‎ -logy (“suffix indicating a branch of learning or study of a subject”). The word is cognate with French oologie, Late Latin oologia.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

oology (uncountable)

  1. (ornithology) The study of birds' eggs. [from 19th c.]
    • 2013, Simon Winder, Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe, London: Picador, →ISBN; republished London: Picador, 2014, →ISBN, page 425:
      Rudolf II's mania for [Bartholomeus] Spranger's porny Roman goddesses, Ferdinand II's devotion to big altarpieces, sudden gusts of oology, a bouquet of flowers made from precious stones given to Franz I by Maria Theresa – these all now became part of public sensibility.
  2. The hobby or practice of collecting birds' eggs, especially those of wild birds.
    Synonyms: birdnesting, egging

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References
  1. “oology, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2004; “oology” (US) / “oology” (UK) in Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press.

Further reading
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.