entomology
Americannoun
noun
Word History
Scientists who study insects (there are close to a million that can be studied!) are called entomologists. Why are they not called “insectologists”? Well, in a way they are. The word insect comes from the Latin word insectum, meaning “cut up or divided into segments.” (The plural of insectum, namely insecta, is used by scientists as the name of the taxonomic class that insects belong to.) This Latin word was created in order to translate the Greek word for “insect,” which is entomon. This Greek word also literally means “cut up or divided into segments,” and it is the source of the word entomology. The Greeks had coined this term for insects because of the clear division of insect bodies into three segments, now called the head, thorax, and abdomen.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of entomology
Explanation
Entomology is the study of insects. If you want to know all about ants, beetles, and mosquitoes entomology is for you. From the Greek word for “knowledge,” the suffix -logy literally means “the study of,” and you see it often. Theology is the study of divine beings, anthropology is the study of human cultures, psychology is the study of the mind. Add the Greek prefix entomon, for insect, and you have the branch of biology that focuses on bugs.
Vocabulary lists containing entomology
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Power Suffix: -ology
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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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.
Rachel Fordyce used to save money by parking at Ithaca's East Hill Plaza and walking through East Lawn Cemetery on her way to work at a Cornell University entomology lab.
From Science Daily • May 28, 2026
The phenomenon is ironic, said Ric Bessin, a professor of entomology at the University of Kentucky, since ladybugs have traditionally been a symbol of cleanliness and order.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 16, 2025
“If the female is not receptive, you better run,” said Rodrigo Monjaraz Ruedas, assistant curator of entomology for the Natural History Museum of L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2025
He is also a member of an entomology association in Modena, a city in the north of Italy.
From BBC • Sep. 12, 2024
Nearly half a century ago, a professor of entomology at Washington State College, A. L. Melander, asked the now purely rhetorical question, “Can insects become resistant to sprays?”
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
