iconology

[ ahy-kuh-nol-uh-jee ]

noun

1. the historical analysis and interpretive study of symbols or images and their contextual significance; iconography.
2. the study of icons or symbolic representations.

iconology

/ aɪˌkɒnəˈlɒdʒɪkəl; ˌaɪkɒˈnɒlədʒɪ /

noun

1. the study or field of art history concerning icons
2. icons collectively
3. the symbolic representation or symbolism of icons

Derived Forms

• ˌicoˈnologist, noun
• iconological, adjective

Other Words From

• i·con·o·log·i·cal [ahy-kon-l-, oj, -i-k, uh, l, ahy-k, uh, -nl-], adjective
• ico·nolo·gist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of iconology¹

First recorded in 1720–30; icono- + -logy

Example Sentences

Adam calls it “a collection of Cajun-ized nursery rhymes with a lot of the local iconology mixed in with the old familiar poems you grew up with.”

From Washington Times

"We uphold this legacy which merges art, political theatre, religious iconology and socio-political resistance."

From BBC

Winnicott that made Phillips want to become a psychoanalyst, and it occurs to me that Jung’s collective unconsciousness and Warburg’s study of cultural memory, archetype and iconology overlap in their ideas of nonverbal transmission.

From New York Times

In 1912, he dubbed this new “science” of art history “iconology.”

From The New Yorker

For the most part, no great persuasion was needed to turn a simple, imaginative, fatalistic people from a few vague animistic deities to the systematic iconology and the elaborate ritual of the Spanish Church.

From Project Gutenberg