morphologist
Americannoun
-
morphologists
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Explanation
A morphologist is a person who studies the shape and structure of either living things or words, depending on their field of study. Morphologists study form and structure. In biology, they explore how the shapes of organisms adapt to environments, such as variations in fish fins. In linguistics, they analyze word structures, understanding how different parts form meanings. For instance, a linguistic morphologist would know that the word "morphologist" comes from the Greek word morphē, which means "form," and the suffix -logist, meaning "one who studies."
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.
See Examples For:
Yet how tongues came about “is one of the biggest mysteries in our evolutionary history,” says Sam Van Wassenbergh, a functional morphologist at the University of Antwerp.
From Science Magazine ● May 24, 2023
“Instead of being at the bottom of the mouth, it’s at the top,” says Patricia Hernandez, a functional morphologist at George Washington University.
From Science Magazine ● May 24, 2023
“It’s very confusing why they lost their tail,” said Gabrielle Russo, an evolutionary morphologist at Stony Brook University in New York who was not involved in the study.
From New York Times ● Sep. 21, 2021
On 31 January, plant morphologist Dmitry Sokoloff of Moscow State University and his colleagues published a reanalysis of the data that suggests a different arrangement of key female reproductive structures in the first flower.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 6, 2018
But it is significant that it was a morphologist and not a physiologist that did the first spade-work.
From Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology by E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
He told Popular Mechanics in 2012 that the dinosaur artists working on Jurassic Park were "better animal morphologists than most tenured professors."
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2022
“It seemed almost too good to be true that morphologists working on tarantulas hadn’t already described this.”
From US News ● May 24, 2011
"Mathematical models have always been an important tool for functional morphologists and biomechanicists," says Van Wassenbergh.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 1, 2011
Naturally enough, morphologists did not accept this rather contemptuous estimate of their science, but held 194firmly to the morphological attitude.
From Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology by E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
As Neumayr, Zittel, Depéret, Steinmann and others have pointed out, the palæontological record gives remarkably little support to the ideal genealogies worked out by morphologists.
From Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology by E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
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.
