zoological

American  

[zoh-uh-loj-i-kuhl] / ˌzoʊ əˈlɒdʒ ɪ kəl /

Often zoologic

adjective

1. of or relating to zoology.

2. relating to or concerned with animals.

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Other Word Forms

• nonzoologic
  adjective
• nonzoological
  adjective
• pseudozoological
  adjective
• nonzoologically
  adverb
• zoologically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of zoological

First recorded in 1800–10; zoolog(y) + -ical

Explanation

Anything zoological is about animals. It’s logical that you’d use the word at a zoo, where critters and beasts hang out. This is an easy word to remember if you think about zoos. In fact, zoo is short for Zoological Gardens, the first of which was created by the London Zoological Society to house the society’s wild animals. Zoo comes from the Greek word for animal, zoion, plus -ology for “the study of” and then -ical, an ending that makes the word an adjective. If you’re describing something that has to do with the study of animals, zoological is your word.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

zoological

Last month, a Los Angeles County civil grand jury report found L.A.’s budget shortfalls and dwindling zoo membership would make it difficult to maintain the zoological park in the long term.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

The people behind the new nonprofit say they have veterinarians on staff, are working with financial consultants and zoological experts and are “moving into the future, not looking into the past.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

Belgium's AfricaMuseum is the country's biggest dedicated to the Congo, displaying millions of colonial-era objects and zoological specimens.

From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026

The discovery also underscores the value of zoological collections for biodiversity research.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 28, 2026

Now that Sacred’s all caught up, I take my zoological diary out of my bag, along with my pencil.

From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Related Words

• bodily
• natural