zoology
Americannoun
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the science or branch of biology dealing with animals.
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a treatise on zoology.
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the animal life of a particular region.
noun
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the study of animals, including their classification, structure, physiology, and history
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the biological characteristics of a particular animal or animal group
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the fauna characteristic of a particular region
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a book, treatise, etc, dealing with any aspect of the study of animals
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of zoology
Explanation
If you're fascinated by monkey business or just love horsing around, you might consider a career in zoology — the scientific study of animals. According to some usage experts, most of us mispronounce the word zoology. The first syllable of this noun is correctly pronounced with a long o sound, as in toe, rather than the "oo" in zoo. Yet our error is considered acceptable because if you're going to study animal life and behavior, one of the best places to do it is at the zoo.
Vocabulary lists containing zoology
Power Suffix: -ology
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Animals (Zoology) - Introductory
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Animals (Zoology) - Middle School
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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.
Attenborough's lifelong passion for the natural world began as child, and he went on to study geology and zoology at university.
From Barron's • May 6, 2026
At Birmingham University, he studied zoology but refused to do animal experiments.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026
Before turning to literature, Wells had studied zoology, and though much of what he had learned has now been superseded, the view of race advanced in this book, for instance, has held up well.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
Specialists in zoology, ecology, and botany worked together to uncover how different species manage to survive there.
From Science Daily • Mar. 2, 2026
Then in 1927, a professor of zoology in a Texas university, Dr. H. J. Muller, found that by exposing an organism to X-radiation, he could produce mutations in succeeding generations.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
