ecology
Americannoun
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the branch of biology dealing with the relations and interactions between organisms and their environment, including other organisms.
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the set of relationships existing between organisms and their environment.
Inflowing rivers introduce nutrients and sediments that are important for the ecology of the lake.
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the set of relationships existing between any complex system and its surroundings or environment.
In the ecology of healthcare, both politics and technology play a key role.
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Also called human ecology. the branch of sociology concerned with the spacing and interdependence of people and institutions.
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advocacy for the protection of natural resources from pollution or its effects; environmentalism.
noun
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the study of the relationships between living organisms and their environment
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the set of relationships of a particular organism with its environment
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the study of the relationships between human groups and their physical environment
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The scientific study of the relationships between living things and their environments.
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Also called bionomics
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A system of such relationships within a particular environment.
Synonym Usage
See ecosystem ( def. ).
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of ecology
First recorded in 1870–75; earlier oecology, from German Ökologie, from Greek oîk(os) “house, dwelling” + -o- + German -logie -logy; term introduced by E. H. Haeckel (1834–1919)
Explanation
The noun ecology describes the environment as it connects to living things, or the branch of biology that studies that environment. The German zoologist Ernst Haeckel coined the word ecology almost 150 years ago, and it should come as no surprise — his being a serious scientist and all — that he combined a couple of Greek words to do it. Oikos means "habitation" and -ology means "the study of." So ecology started off as the study of where things live. More and more, though, the word is used interchangeably with environment.
Vocabulary lists containing ecology
Power Suffix: -ology
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Human Geography - Middle School
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Human Geography - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And last September the head of China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environmentadmitted that “controlling carbon emission intensity is challenging.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026
It employees 1,000 people, according to the Washington State Department of Ecology.
From BBC • May 26, 2026
Jon Gould, dean of UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology, said the level of disapproval for Trump is striking given Orange County’s generally close political divide.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
These findings were reported by an international research team in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
From Science Daily • May 5, 2026
This worldwide migration has been studied and graphically described by the British ecologist Charles Elton in his recent book The Ecology of Invasions.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
