geology

Etymology

It was formed from English geo- + -logy in English,^[2][3] partly after geologia (“the study of the earth”),^{[2][4][5][6][7]} from Ancient Greek γῆ (gê, “earth, land”) and -λογία (-logía).^[5][8][9] In Medieval Latin geologia had meant the study of earthly things, especially law, as opposed to the arts and sciences, which concern the works of God:^[4][9][10] Richard de Bury used it in the title of a work in 1345.^[2] From the 17th century continental and British writers used the Latin word for the study of geographical and geological features,^[2] and the OED compares Italian giologia from 1603.^[2] Barnhart thinks Italian works of the period may have led the French scholar Dauzat to believe that the word was first made in Italian.^[11] Geologie is recorded by 1785.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The science of the earth in general or as a whole: 1731, in the Present State of the Republick of Letters,^[2][12] 1735 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster.^[5][6] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1680–90.^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as the doctrine of the earth, the knowledge of its state and nature.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The broad early sense died out in the late 18th century;^[2][14] from 1788 the word was narrowed to the science of the earth's physical structure and substance, the processes that act on them, and its history since its formation.^[2][12] Etymonline dates this sense to 1795,^[4] and Barnhart notes that it was made popular by James Hutton's Theory of the Earth (1795).^[11] Geological and geologist are also recorded from 1795,^[11] and Darwin used the verb geologize.^[4] From 1795 geology also meant the rocks and structures of a particular area, as in Thomas Jefferson's letters,^[2][14] and since 1833 the word has been used of other bodies such as the moon and Mars.^[2]

Timeline

• 1345 – Medieval Latin geologia, the study of earthly things.^[2]
• 1731 – the science of the earth in general.^[2]
• 1735 – first known use in Merriam-Webster.^[6]
• 1788 – the science of the earth's structure and history.^[2]
• 1795 – the geological features of a region.^[2] Geologist and geological.^[11]
• 1833 – of the moon, planets and other bodies.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The science that studies the origin, history, structure and composition of the earth, especially as recorded in its rocks.
2. The geological features of an area: The geology of the island is mostly volcanic basalt.
3. The study of the solid matter of another planet or moon.

Word family

• geologic
• geologically
• geologist
• astrogeology
• geohydrology
• geologize
• hydrogeology
• paleogeology

Related words

• geography
• geometry
• geo-
• -logy
• Gaia

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press