Teleological

tel·e·ol·o·gy  (tl-l-j, tl-)

n. pl. tel·e·ol·o·gies

1. The study of design or purpose in natural phenomena.

2. The use of ultimate purpose or design as a means of explaining phenomena.

3. Belief in or the perception of purposeful development toward an end, as in nature or history.

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[Greek teleios, teleos, perfect, complete (from telos, end, result; see k^wel-¹ in Indo-European roots) + -logy.]

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tele·o·logi·cal (--lj-kl), tele·o·logic (-k) adj.

tele·o·logi·cal·ly adv.

tele·olo·gist n.

Thesaurus

Adj.

1.

teleological - of or relating to teleology