morphologist

American  

[mawr-fahl-uh-jist] / mɔrˈfɑl ə dʒɪst /

noun

plural

morphologists

1. a specialist in morphology.

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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

“It’s an extraordinary behavioral adaptation,” says David Cundall, a functional morphologist at Lehigh University, who was not involved in the research.

From Scientific American • Jan. 11, 2021

Claus Nielsen, a morphologist affiliated with the Natural History Museum of Denmark and author of the new paper, has followed this controversy, which has unfolded entirely during his retirement, with great interest.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2019

The prospect of fading expertise so worried Friedman that, in 2013, he and his wife, plant morphologist Pamela Diggle of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, launched an intensive botany bootcamp for biologists.

From Nature • Jan. 22, 2018

“It’s going to take a bold effort on the part of everyone involved” to save the species, says Ann Pabst, a functional morphologist at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 7, 2017

This second objection is the objection of the morphologist.

From Form and Function A Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology by E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell