ethology

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

See more synonyms for ethology on Thesaurus.com

noun

the study of animal behavior with emphasis on the behavioral patterns that occur in natural environments.

Origin of ethology

1895–1900; earlier, as the study of relations between an organism and its environment < French éthologie, coined by French zoologist I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1805–61); see ethos, -logy

Related formse·tho·log·i·cal

[ee-thuh-loj-i-kuh l, eth-uh-] /ˌi θəˈlɒdʒ ɪ kəl, ˌɛθ ə-/, adjectivee·tho·log·i·cal·ly, adverbe·thol·o·gist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for ethological

personal, animal, mortal, humanoid, individual, anthropoid, biped, hominid, hominoid, anthropomorphic, anthropomorphous, civilized, fallible, fleshly, forgivable, anthropological, bipedal, creatural, ethological, hominine

Examples from the Web for ethological

Historical Examples of ethological

The only check or corrective is, constant verification by psychological and ethological laws.
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive
John Stuart Mill
There has been an increasing awareness of the importance of ethological data and of their usefulness in systematics.
Comparative Breeding Behavior of Ammospiza caudacuta and A. maritima
Glen E. Woolfenden
In the foregoing I have discussed the ethological relations of ants to a variety of other organisms.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology
Robert E. Park

British Dictionary definitions for ethological

ethology

noun

the study of the behaviour of animals in their normal environment

Derived Formsethological (ˌɛθəˈlɒdʒɪkəl), adjectiveethologically, adverbethologist, noun

Word Origin for ethology

C17 (in the obsolete sense: mimicry): via Latin from Greek ēthologia, from ēthos character; current sense, C19

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ethological

ethology

late 17c., "mimicry," from Latin ethologia, from Greek ethologia, from ethos "character" (see ethos). As a branch of zoology, from 1897.

ethological in Science

ethology

[ĭ-thŏl′ə-jē, ē-thŏl′-]

The scientific study of animal behavior, especially as it occurs in a natural environment.