ecology

Archaic, oe·col·o·gy

[ih-kol-uh-jee, ee-kol-]

noun

plural

ecologies 

1. the branch of biology dealing with the relations and interactions between organisms and their environment, including other organisms.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Also called human ecology. the branch of sociology concerned with the spacing and interdependence of people and institutions.

5. advocacy for the protection of natural resources from pollution or its effects; environmentalism.

ecology

/ ɪˈkɒlədʒɪ /

noun

1. the study of the relationships between living organisms and their environment

2. the set of relationships of a particular organism with its environment

3. the study of the relationships between human groups and their physical environment

ecology

1. The scientific study of the relationships between living things and their environments.

2. Also called bionomics

3. A system of such relationships within a particular environment.

ecology

1. The study of living things, their environment, and the relation between the two.

Other Word Forms

• ecologist noun
• ecological adjective
• ecologic adjective
• ecologically adverb
• unecological adjective
• unecologically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of ecology¹

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)

Word History and Origins

Origin of ecology¹

C19: from German Ökologie, from Greek oikos house (hence, environment)

Synonym Study

See ecosystem ( def. ).

Example Sentences

The work serves as a new framework for further investigations into the role of electrostatics in ecology.

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“I always learn something when I’m here,” Stilley said, “because there’s so many people who come with different sorts of plant knowledge, and there’s infinite different things about plants and ecology.”

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It’s just a fraction of the work state leaders and local fire crews hope to someday accomplish, yet the scale and speed of the effort has already made some ecology and fire experts uneasy.

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By refining global biostratigraphic frameworks and calibrating species' evolutionary timelines, INA researchers transform fossils of coccolithophores into precise tools for reconstructing ancient oceans, linking modern plankton ecology with the geological record of climate change.

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The Kobe University finding not only closes a gap in our understanding of wild orchid ecology but also uncovers an important carbon flux in the ecosystem.

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Related Words

• conservation 
• preservation