etiology

or ae·ti·ol·o·gy

[ ee-tee-ol-uh-jee ]
See synonyms for etiology on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural e·ti·ol·o·gies.
  1. Pathology.

    • the study of the causes of diseases.

    • the cause or origin of a disease.

  2. the study of causation.

  1. any study of causes, causation, or causality, as in philosophy, biology, or physics.

Origin of etiology

1
First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin aetiologia, from Greek aitiología “determining the cause of something,” from aití(a) “cause” + -o- -o- + -logia -logy

Other words from etiology

  • e·ti·ol·o·gist, noun

Words Nearby etiology

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How to use etiology in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for etiology

etiology

/ (ˌiːtɪˈɒlədʒɪ) /


nounplural -gies
  1. a variant spelling of aetiology

Derived forms of etiology

  • etiological (ˌiːtɪəˈlɒdʒɪkəl), adjective
  • etiologically, adverb
  • etiologist, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for etiology

etiology

[ ē′tē-ŏlə-jē ]


  1. The cause or origin of a disease, condition, or constellation of symptoms or signs, as determined by medical diagnosis or research.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.