''-logy'' is a

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

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 classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

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 languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

-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 '' -lo ...

''. 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 study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

'' (loaned from Latin in the

14th century The 14th century lasted from 1 January 1301 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCCI) to 31 December 1400 (MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and natural disasters in both Euro ...

) or ''

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

''. In words of the type ''

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

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

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, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a term o ...

'' or ''

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works 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. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

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

logos ''Logos'' (, ; ) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric, as well as religion (notably Logos (Christianity), Christianity); among its connotations is that of a rationality, rational form of discourse that relies on inducti ...

'', '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 tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

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 plant organ, 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 bel ...

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 Analogy is a comparison or correspondence between two things (or two groups of things) because of a third element that they are considered to share. In logic, it is an inference or an argument from one particular to another particular, as oppose ...

'', ''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'', ''

hexalogy A hexalogy (from Greek ἑξα- '' hexa-'', "six" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound literary or narrative work that is made up of six distinct works. The word apparently first appeared in English as a borrowing from German, in ...

''; ''herbalogy'' (a variant of '' herbology''), ''

mammalogy In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous systems. The archive of number of mammals on earth is constantly growi ...

'', ''

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

'', ''

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 spec ...

'', ''petralogy'' (a variant of ''

petrology Petrology () is the branch of geology that studies rocks, their mineralogy, composition, texture, structure and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous ...

''); '' elogy'';

heptalogy Series fiction refers to a group of independently published works of fiction that are related to one another, usually through similar elements of setting and Fictional character, characters. A common example of series fiction is a book series. Seri ...

; ''

antilogy In traditional logic, a contradiction involves a proposition conflicting 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's ...

'', '' festilogy''; ''

'', ''

tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies ...

'', ''

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 re ...

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

''; and '' brachylogy''. Linguists sometimes jokingly refer to

haplology Haplology (from Greek "simple" and , "speech") is, in spoken language, the elision (elimination or deletion) of an entire syllable or a part of it through dissimilation (a differentiating shift that affects two neighboring similar sounds). Th ...

as ''haplogy'' (subjecting the word ''haplology'' to the process of haplology itself).

Additional usage as a suffix

Per

metonymy Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word " suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such as sales ...

, 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 Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

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

pathology Pathology is the study of disease. 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 the context of modern medical treatme ...

'' 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 natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

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

nonce word In linguistics, a nonce word—also called an occasionalism—is any word (lexeme), or any sequence of sounds or letters, created for a single occasion or utterance but not otherwise understood or recognized as a word in a given languag ...

s (e.g., ''

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

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_language#Classical_studies, classical languages (classical Latin or ancient Greek) root (linguistics), roots. Neo-Lati ...

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.

diptych A diptych (, ) is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by a hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world was a diptych consisting of a pair of such plates that contained a ...

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

). Examples include: *

Trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works 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. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

for three works *

Tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies ...

for four 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 re ...

for five works *

Hexalogy A hexalogy (from Greek ἑξα- '' hexa-'', "six" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound literary or narrative work that is made up of six distinct works. The word apparently first appeared in English as a borrowing from German, in ...

for six works *

Heptalogy Series fiction refers to a group of independently published works of fiction that are related to one another, usually through similar elements of setting and Fictional character, characters. A common example of series fiction is a book series. Seri ...

for seven works Further terms like duology (two, mostly in

genre fiction In the book-trade, genre fiction, also known as formula fiction, or commercial fiction,Girolimon, Mars"Types of Genres: A Literary Guide" Southern New Hampshire University, 11 December 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2024. encompasses fictional ...

) quadrilogy (four) and octalogy (eight) 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 collection ...

) 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

-logy versus -ology

Additional usage as a suffix

Compound series of works of art

See also

References

External links