ethology

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

noun

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

ethology

/ ɪˈθɒlədʒɪ; ˌɛθəˈlɒdʒɪkəl /

noun

1. the study of the behaviour of animals in their normal environment

ethology

/ ĭ-thŏl′ə-jē,ē-thŏl′- /

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

Derived Forms

• ˌethoˈlogically, adverb
• eˈthologist, noun
• ethological, adjective

Other Words From

• e·tho·log·i·cal [ee-th, uh, -, loj, -i-k, uh, l, eth-, uh, -], adjective
• etho·logi·cal·ly adverb
• e·tholo·gist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ethology¹

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); ethos, -logy

Word History and Origins

Origin of ethology¹

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

Example Sentences

Several reviewers missed that Morgan didn’t have any anthropological training, describing her as “a female anthropologist,” and “a scholarly woman, educated at Oxford in the fields of paleontology, ethology, and anthropology.”

From Nautilus

I remark by anticipation that this expression implies a reference to Mill's Ethology, of which I shall have to speak.

From Project Gutenberg

As in Ethology and other deductive sciences, so in Statistics and History there are empirical laws.

From Project Gutenberg

It must itself depend on laws of mind and character (psychology and ethology).

From Project Gutenberg

Etholog′ic, -al, relating to ethology: treating of morality.

From Project Gutenberg