ornithology
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ornithology
From the New Latin word ornithologia, dating back to 1645–55. See ornitho-, -logy
Explanation
Ornithology is the scientific study of birds. Zoology is the broad field that studies animals, but there are as many subfields as there are critters. One is ornithology: the study of birds. This includes tiny birds like finches and huge birds like vultures. Ornithologists study bird songs, feathers, migration patterns, and everything else about birds. People who are experts in ornithology — ornithologists — go to graduate school, but you don't have to study birds in school to be interested. Birdwatchers know a lot of ornithology too.
Vocabulary lists containing ornithology
Words of a Feather: Unflappable Avian Vocabulary
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The Westing Game
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 11
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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.
Watson thought of majoring in ornithology, the study of birds, but changed to genetics - influenced by Erwin Schrodinger's book What is Life?
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2025
The ornithology department houses floor-to-ceiling archives of carefully preserved bird specimens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2025
"Most hummingbirds drink while they're hovering mid-flight," said Rico-Guevara, who is also curator of ornithology at the UW's Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2024
Found materials, including street signage rulers, ornithology illustrations and children’s drawings, festoon the canvas, mingling with hurried chalk annotations and prays of gestural brushwork resembling graffiti.
From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2024
I imagine it’s someone I haven’t met yet, someone I somehow missed while I was hiding out in the ornithology stacks and they were tearing through poetry and memorizing lines.
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
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.
