Ornithology

Ornithology

Noun · /ˌɔː.nɪˈθɒl.ə.dʒi/

Definition

The branch of zoology that deals with the scientific study of birds — their biology, behaviour, physiology, ecology, evolution, and classification; the scientific discipline concerned with birds in all their aspects.

Origin

From Modern Latin ornithologia, from Greek ornithos (genitive of ornis, bird) + logia (the study of, from logos, word, reason). The term appearing in academic Latin from the seventeenth century — Francis Willughby and John Ray's Ornithologia being published in 1676, the first systematic ornithology in the modern scientific tradition. Ornis (bird) itself being of uncertain further etymology in Greek — possibly related to ornumi (to stir up, to excite), from the fluttering movement of birds. The -logy suffix from logos, appearing in countless scientific disciplines.