ecology
[ih-kol-uh-jee]
- the branch of biology dealing with the relations and interactions between organisms and their environment, including other organisms.
- the set of relationships existing between organisms and their environment: desert ecologies.
- the set of relationships existing between any complex system and its surroundings or environment: the ecology and politics of healthcare.
- Also called human ecology. the branch of sociology concerned with the spacing and interdependence of people and institutions.
- advocacy for the protection of natural resources from pollution or its effects; environmentalism.
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Also Archaic, oe·col·o·gy.
Origin of ecology
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ecology
Contemporary Examples
And of course one needs to convince the French Ministries of Culture and of Ecology that the application makes sense.
In other words, criticism is a tiny part of the ecology of the music business, but an essential part.
None of Denes's issues, in art or politics or economics or ecology, are any less worth addressing today than 30 years ago.
The boat was also traced to the tsunami, Curt Hart of the Washington Department of Ecology told The Daily Beast.
The lectures have featured such topics as the effect of temperature on chocolate, browning foods, and the ecology of farming.
Historical Examples
Ecology of the opossum on a natural area in northeastern Kansas.
Natural History of the Racer Coluber constrictorHenry S. Fitch
The centipedes of the Chicago area with special reference to their ecology.
The Biotic Associations of CockroachesLouis M. Roth
Stone Age—but that's partly an accident of ecology, isn't it?
West Of The SunEdgar Pangborn
The wolf: the ecology and behavior of an endangered species.
An Experimental Translocation of the Eastern Timber WolfThomas F. Weise
The youngest branch of Botany is Ecology or the study of vegetation in relation to habitat—particularly soil in its widest sense.
ecology
- the study of the relationships between living organisms and their environment
- the set of relationships of a particular organism with its environment
- the study of the relationships between human groups and their physical environment
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Also called (for senses 1, 2): bionomics
Word Origin
C19: from German Ökologie, from Greek oikos house (hence, environment)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ecology
n.
1873, "branch of science dealing with the relationship of living things to their environments, coined by German zoologist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) as Okologie, from Greek oikos "house, dwelling place, habitation" (see villa) + -logia "study of" (see -logy). In use with reference to anti-pollution activities from 1960s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
ecology
(ĭ-kŏl′ə-jē)- The branch of science that is concerned with the relationships between organisms and their environments.
- The relationship between organisms and their environments.
- The study of the detrimental effects of modern civilization on the environment, with a view toward their prevention or reversal through conservation.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
ecology
[ĭ-kŏl′ə-jē]
- The scientific study of the relationships between living things and their environments. Also called bionomics
- A system of such relationships within a particular environment.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ecology
The study of living things, their environment, and the relation between the two.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.