ecology

English Online Dictionary. What means ecology‎? What does ecology mean?

English

Alternative forms

• oecology, œcology (archaic)

Etymology

Calque of German Ökologie (coined in 1866 by Ernst Haeckel), from Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) + -λογία (-logía, “study of”). By surface analysis, eco- +‎ -logy.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪˈkɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ɪˈkɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, /iˈkɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɪˈkɔl.ə.d͡ʒi/
• 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.
2. (by extension) Any study of the relationships of components of a system with their environment and with each other.

3. The totality or pattern of relationships of components of a system with their environment and with each other.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• ecology block

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of ecology

References

• “ecology”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• ecology in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "ecology" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 110.
• “ecology”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Further reading

• ecology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia