zoology
Americannoun
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zoologies
plural
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the science or branch of biology dealing with animals.
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a treatise on zoology.
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the animal life of a particular region.
noun
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the study of animals, including their classification, structure, physiology, and history
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the biological characteristics of a particular animal or animal group
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the fauna characteristic of a particular region
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a book, treatise, etc, dealing with any aspect of the study of animals
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of zoology
Explanation
If you're fascinated by monkey business or just love horsing around, you might consider a career in zoology — the scientific study of animals. According to some usage experts, most of us mispronounce the word zoology. The first syllable of this noun is correctly pronounced with a long o sound, as in toe, rather than the "oo" in zoo. Yet our error is considered acceptable because if you're going to study animal life and behavior, one of the best places to do it is at the zoo.
Vocabulary lists containing zoology
Power Suffix: -ology
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Animals (Zoology) - Introductory
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Animals (Zoology) - Middle 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.
See Examples For:
Now the University of Sheffield zoology student has swapped his gaming headset for a pair of binoculars as he's embraced a new passion - birdwatching.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
"If a tiger is killed in the Sundarbans, it creates a turmoil in the ecosystem," said Mohammad Abdul Aziz, a zoology expert at Bangladesh's Jahangirnagar University.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
Specialists in zoology, ecology, and botany worked together to uncover how different species manage to survive there.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 2, 2026
Her name was Iva Toguri D’Aquino, and she was born in Watts to Japanese parents in 1916 and had a degree in zoology from UCLA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025
Then in 1927, a professor of zoology in a Texas university, Dr. H. J. Muller, found that by exposing an organism to X-radiation, he could produce mutations in succeeding generations.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Heraldry is so full of these fantastic creatures, that, in some zoologies, we find a separate chapter or a supplement dedicated to what is denominated heraldic zoology.
From Miscellaneous Essays by Thomas De Quincey
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
