heterology

[ het-uh-rol-uh-jee ]

noun

1. Biology. the lack of correspondence of apparently similar organic structures as the result of unlike origins of constituent parts.
2. Pathology. abnormality; structural difference from a type or normal standard.

Word History and Origins

Origin of heterology¹

First recorded in 1850–55; hetero- + -logy

Example Sentences

Heterology, het-er-ol′oj-i, n. abnormality, want of true morphological affinity.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg