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ecological

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˌiːkəˈlɒd͡ʒɪkl̩/[1]

Etymology

It was formed from English ecology + -ical in English.[2][3][4][5] Ecology goes back to German Oecologie (now Ökologie), coined by the zoologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866[2][3] from Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house, dwelling”) and the German suffix -logie, from -λογία (-logía).[2][6] The early English spelling was oecological.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the relations between living organisms and their surroundings: 1879, in a translation of Haeckel's Evolution of Man.[2][7] The Shorter Oxford also dates it to the late 19th century,[4] while Etymonline gives 1899.[3]

Semantic evolution

For most of a century the adjective belonged to biology,[2] but in the late 1960s, as ecology itself began to be used of the fight against pollution,[3] it came to mean concerned with the environment, environmentalist, and also, of a product or practice, causing little harm to the environment; the OED's first example is from the European edition of Stars and Stripes in 1969.[2][8] The shorter form ecologic is recorded from the late 19th century too,[4] and the adverb ecologically from the early 20th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 1866 – Haeckel coins German Oecologie.[2]
  • 1879 – relating to the relations between organisms and their environment.[2]
  • 1899 – Etymonline's date for the adjective.[3]
  • 1969 – concerned with the environment; environmentally friendly.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to ecology, the study of how living things relate to each other and to their environment.
  2. Of or relating to the environment and the relations between organisms in it: The oil spill was an ecological disaster for the bay.
  3. Intended to benefit the environment or to do it as little harm as possible; environmentally friendly.

Word family

  • unecological

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins