morphologist

American  

[mawr-fahl-uh-jist] / mɔrˈfɑl ə dʒɪst /

noun

plural

morphologists

1. a specialist in morphology.

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Explanation

A morphologist is a person who studies the shape and structure of either living things or words, depending on their field of study. Morphologists study form and structure. In biology, they explore how the shapes of organisms adapt to environments, such as variations in fish fins. In linguistics, they analyze word structures, understanding how different parts form meanings. For instance, a linguistic morphologist would know that the word "morphologist" comes from the Greek word morphē, which means "form," and the suffix -logist, meaning "one who studies."

Example Sentences

“Instead of being at the bottom of the mouth, it’s at the top,” says Patricia Hernandez, a functional morphologist at George Washington University.

From Science Magazine • May 24, 2023

Yet how tongues came about “is one of the biggest mysteries in our evolutionary history,” says Sam Van Wassenbergh, a functional morphologist at the University of Antwerp.

From Science Magazine • May 24, 2023

“It’s very confusing why they lost their tail,” said Gabrielle Russo, an evolutionary morphologist at Stony Brook University in New York who was not involved in the study.

From New York Times • Sep. 21, 2021

“It’s an extraordinary behavioral adaptation,” says David Cundall, a functional morphologist at Lehigh University, who was not involved in the research.

From Scientific American • Jan. 11, 2021

In the ever greater and greater specialising of science which has taken place, Huxley was chiefly a morphologist.

From A History of Nineteenth Century Literature (1780-1895) by Saintsbury, George