meteorology

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek μετεωρολογία (meteōrología, “the study of celestial and atmospheric phenomena”).^[2][3][4] Barnhart, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster see it as also coming through Middle French météorologie.^[5][6][7] The Greek word is formed from μετέωρον (metéōron, “thing high up, celestial phenomenon”), the source of meteor, and -λογία (-logía, “treatment of”), the source of -logy.^[6][5][8][9] The OED dates the Middle French word to 1548 and compares Italian meteorologia (1542) and post-classical Medieval Latin meteorologia (1512).^[2] The Greek noun goes back to μετέωρος (metéōros, “raised, lofty”), from μετα- (meta-) and a base related to ἀείρειν (aeírein, “to lift, raise”).^[2][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The branch of knowledge that deals with atmospheric phenomena: 1563, in W. Fulke's Goodly Gallerye, a book on the causes of meteors.^[2][7] Barnhart dates the word to 1620 and Etymonline to the 1610s;^[5][6] Barnhart notes that the derivative meteorological, recorded from 1570, suggests a gap in the record.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The Greek word meant literally a discussion of things high up, and covered the heavens as well as the air.^[6][5] In English it first named the study of all "meteors", the phenomena of the atmosphere;^[2][6] Johnson (1755) defined it as "the doctrine of meteors", quoting Browne on an innate "meteorology" in animals that foretells wind and weather.^[11] Modern definitions stress the study of weather processes and forecasting.^[2][9] Since 1684 the word has also meant the weather and atmospheric conditions of a particular region.^[2][12][7] A reduced form meterology reflects a common pronunciation.^[2]

Timeline

• 1563 – the science of atmospheric phenomena.^[2][7][12]
• 1570 – the adjective meteorological.^[5]
• 1621 – the noun meteorologist, in Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy.^[5]
• 1684 – the weather and climate of a particular region.^[2][12]

Meanings

Noun

1. The science of the atmosphere and its processes, especially as used in weather forecasting: She studied meteorology before joining the coastguard.^[9][7][2]
2. The weather and atmospheric conditions of a particular area: the meteorology of the Alps.^[7][2]

Word family

• meteorological
• meteorologically
• meteorologist
• astrometeorology
• biometeorology
• hydrometeorology
• macrometeorology
• mesometeorology

Related words

• meteor
• meteoric
• meteorite
• meteoroid
• meteoritics

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)