physiological

Etymology

It is formed from English physiology + -ical.^[2][3][4] The OED allows either this, as physio- with -logical, or Late Latin physiologicus with the English suffix -al;^[5] Merriam-Webster takes the Latin adjective as the base and derives it from Ancient Greek φυσιολογικός (phusiologikós, “relating to natural science”), from φυσιολογία (phusiología, “natural science”) and the suffix -ικός (-ikós).^[6] physiology itself is from Middle French physiologie or directly from Latin physiologia (“natural science, study of nature”),^[5][2][7] from the same Greek noun, there glossed as inquiry into nature,^[2][8] which is built on φύσις (phúsis, “nature”).^[8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to the material universe or to natural science; physical: 1610, in J. Healey's translation of Vives.^[5] Etymonline dates this sense, now obsolete, to about 1600.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective followed the change in meaning of physiology, which meant natural philosophy from 1564 and the science of the functions of living things from 1615.^[5][7] The old sense, "natural, physical", lasted until the early 19th century;^[5][3] Johnson (1755) still defined the word as relating to the doctrine of the natural constitution of things.^[9] The modern sense, relating to physiology and the functioning of living organisms, is recorded from 1704 by the OED and Merriam-Webster,^[5][6] though Etymonline dates it only from 1814.^[2] From 1896 biology and medicine also used it of acidity or salinity equal to that of blood and living tissue, and generally of what is normal for a healthy body, as opposed to pathological.^[5][10] The shorter form physiologic is now chiefly American.^[6]

Timeline

• 1610 – relating to natural science; physical (obsolete by 1825).^[5]
• 1704 – relating to physiology and the functioning of living organisms.^[5][6]
• 1755 – Johnson defines it by the doctrine of the natural constitution of things.^[9]
• 1814 – the physiological sense, according to Etymonline.^[2]
• 1896 – of salinity, acidity, etc., equal to that of living tissue; normal.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to physiology, the study of how living organisms and their organs work: physiological changes during exercise.^[10][6][5]
2. Typical of the normal, healthy functioning of the body; not pathological.^[10][5]
3. (obsolete, 1610–1825) Relating to natural science; physical.^[5][3]

Word family

• physiologically
• nonphysiological
• psychophysiological
• unphysiological

Related words

• physiology
• physiologist
• physic
• physique
• physics
• physical

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins