-logy

-logy

or -ology

suff.

1. Discourse; expression: phraseology.

2. Science; theory; study: dermatology; sexology.

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[Middle English -logie, from Old French, from Latin -logia, from Greek -logiā (from logos, word, speech; see leg- in Indo-European roots) and from -logos, one who deals with (from legein, to speak; see leg- in Indo-European roots).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

-logy

n combining form

1. indicating the science or study of: musicology.

2. indicating writing, discourse, or body of writings: trilogy; phraseology; martyrology.

[from Latin -logia, from Greek, from logos word; see logos]

-logical, -logic adj combining form

-logist n combining form

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lo•gy

(ˈloʊ gi)

adj. -gi•er, -gi•est.

lacking physical or mental energy or vitality; sluggish; dull; lethargic.

[1840–50, Amer.; perhaps < Dutch log heavy, cumbersome + -y¹]

lo′gi•ly, adv.

lo′gi•ness, n.

-logy

a combining form meaning “field of scientific study, discipline,” used also to denote the body of principles, theories, data, etc., produced by learned endeavor ( archaeology; pathology; theology); “set of abstract notions” ( ideology; methodology); “set of texts” ( trilogy); “systematic listing” ( genealogy; necrology); “linguistic usage” (tautology; phraseology).

[Middle English -logie < Latin -logia < Greek. See -logue, -y³]

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