ethology

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

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for ethology

Historical Examples of ethology

It must itself depend on laws of mind and character (psychology and ethology).
The Idea of Progress
J. B. Bury
I remark by anticipation that this expression implies a reference to Mill's Ethology, of which I shall have to speak.
The English Utilitarians, Volume I.
Leslie Stephen
As in Ethology and other deductive sciences, so in Statistics and History there are empirical laws.
Analysis of Mr. Mill's System of Logic
William Stebbing
Etholog′ic, -al, relating to ethology: treating of morality.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for ethology

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 ethology

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

ethology in Science

ethology

[ĭ-thŏl′ə-jē, ē-thŏl′-]

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