morphology

American  

[mawr-fol-uh-jee] / mɔrˈfɒl ə dʒi /

noun

1. the branch of biology dealing with the form and structure of organisms.

2. the form and structure of an organism considered as a whole.

3. Linguistics.

   1. the patterns of word formation in a particular language, including inflection, derivation, and composition.

   2. the study and description of such patterns.

   3. the study of the behavior and combination of morphemes.

4. Physical Geography. geomorphology.

5. the form or structure of anything.

   to gain an insight into the morphology of our political system.

6. the study of the form or structure of anything.

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morphology British  

/ mɔːˈfɒlədʒɪ, ˌmɔːfəˈlɒdʒɪk /

noun

1. the branch of biology concerned with the form and structure of organisms

2. the form and structure of words in a language, esp the consistent patterns of inflection, combination, derivation and change, etc, that may be observed and classified

3. the form and structure of anything

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morphology Scientific  

/ môr-fŏl′ə-jē /

1. The size, shape, and structure of an organism or one of its parts. Biologists usually describe the morphology of an organism separately from its physiology. In traditional systems of taxonomy, classifications were based on the morphological characteristics of organisms. However, a method of classification based purely on morphology runs the risk of grouping together organisms that are actually relatively unrelated but have evolved similar features. In more modern systems of taxonomy, the genetic similarity of organisms, studied through the methods of molecular biology, is considered in addition to morphology when establishing taxa.

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morphology Cultural  

1. The study of the structure of living things. (Compare anatomy and physiology.)

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Other Word Forms

• morphologic adjective
• morphological adjective
• morphologically adverb
• morphologist noun
• unmorphological adjective
• unmorphologically adverb

Etymology

Origin of morphology

First recorded in 1820–30; morpho- + -logy; first formed in German

Explanation

Morphology is the study of how things are put together, like the make-up of animals and plants, or the branch of linguistics that studies the structure of words. In morphology, the word part morph- means "form" and -ology means "the study of." So, those who study how something is made or formed are engaged in morphology. In biology, the morphology of fish might investigate how the gills work as part of the respiratory system. In language morphology, you might study how prefixes and suffixes added to a word change its meaning.

Example Sentences

"There are also several bones with differing morphology that haven't been investigated before that I'm interested in looking at. These might represent new taxa and offer additional clues about snake evolution."

From Science Daily • Dec. 31, 2025

Using personalized “Explorer Key” cards, visitors can activate digital paleontological tools to probe the morphology and physiology of dinosaurs and other creatures.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2025

“Axon morphology in living animals is under constant and dynamic change,” says neuroscientist Tong Wang from ShanghaiTech University, who has studied beading in diseased neurons.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 2, 2024

Indeed, a crab-like body shape, or morphology, has evolved numerous times independently throughout evolutionary history.

From Salon • Oct. 14, 2024

Barley has the further advantage that its genetics and morphology permit it to evolve quickly the useful changes in seed dispersal and germination inhibition that we discussed in the preceding chapter.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• architecture
• arrangement
• complex
• construction
• design
• format
• formation
• framework
• network
• organization
• system