cosmological

Etymology

It is formed from English cosmology + -ical,^[2][3] while the OED analyses it as Ancient Greek κοσμολογικός (kosmologikós, “touching physical philosophy”), from κόσμος (kósmos, “world”) and λογικός (logikós, “discoursing”), with the English suffix -al.^[4] The noun, recorded from 1656, is from New Latin cosmologia, built on the same Greek elements.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to cosmology: 1780, according to Etymonline;^[2] the Shorter Oxford also dates it to the late 18th century,^[3] and the OED's first quotation is from Coleridge's Aids to Reflection (1825).^[4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the Greek adjective meant "pertaining to physical philosophy".^[2] The cosmological argument, which reasons from the contingent existence of things to the existence of God, is a phrase of philosophy and theology;^[3][5] in 20th-century physics the cosmological constant, an arbitrary constant in the field equations of general relativity, is recorded from 1928.^[4][3] Wiktionary extends the adjective to the overall structure of the universe.^[1]

Timeline

• 1780 – relating to cosmology.^[2] The OED's first quotation is from 1825.^[4]
• 1928 – in the phrase cosmological constant, in physics.^[4][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to cosmology, the study of the origin, structure and development of the universe, or to the structure of the universe as a whole.^[4][3][1]
2. cosmological argument: an argument for the existence of God from the contingent existence of things.^[3][5]
3. cosmological constant: an arbitrary constant in the field equations of general relativity.^[3][4]

Word family

• cosmological argument
• cosmological constant
• cosmologically

Related words

• cosmic
• cosmos
• cosmology
• logic

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press