zoology
Americannoun
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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.
Dr. Andrew Hosie, Curator of Aquatic Zoology at the Western Australian Museum, participated in describing this newly identified crab species.
From Science Daily • Oct. 8, 2025
However, a study published in the Journal of Zoology quashed these rumours.
From BBC • Apr. 16, 2025
Tallie, who was from Oswestry, Shropshire, graduated from Bangor University last year with a degree in Marine Biology with Vertebrate Zoology.
From BBC • Sep. 13, 2024
That does not bode well, says Scott Edwards, an evolutionary biologist and curator at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology.
From Science Magazine • Apr. 2, 2024
I remember the old Zoology Building where we used to go on Saturdays, the creaking, overheated corridors, the bottles of eyeballs, the comforting smells of formaldehyde and mice.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
