entomology

American  

[en-tuh-mol-uh-jee] / ˌɛn təˈmɒl ə dʒi /

noun

1. the branch of zoology dealing with insects.

---

entomology British  

/ ˌɛntəməˈlɒdʒɪkəl, ˌɛntəˈmɒlədʒɪ /

noun

1. the branch of science concerned with the study of insects

---

entomology Scientific  

/ ĕn′tə-mŏl′ə-jē /

1. The scientific study of insects.

---

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

Derived Forms

• nonentomologic
  adjective
• entomologically
  adverb
• unentomological
  adjective
• entomologic
  adjective
• entomologist
  noun
• entomological
  adjective
• nonentomological
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of entomology

First recorded in 1760–70; entomo- + -logy

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.

Example Sentences

She collected some in a jar and brought them to her supervisor, Bryan Danforth, professor of entomology in Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

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

Heather Ferguson, professor of medical entomology at the University of Glasgow, described the initial response to their three-year long project as "tremendous".

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2025

“There’s no sense making a web … if there’s nothing to eat,” said Rick Vetter, a retired research associate in UC Riverside’s entomology department.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 7, 2024

There it sat, occupying important intellectual ground, at just the time when entomology was emerging as an experimental science of considerable power, capable of solving matters of intricate detail, a paradigm of the new reductionism.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas