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urology

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Etymology and origin of the English word urology

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1753 Chambers's Cyclopædia, Supplement More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek οὖρον

Pronunciation

  • /jʊəˈɹɒlədʒi/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English uro- + -logy,[2][3][4][5][6] the first element meaning "urine" and coming through French, German and scientific Latin from Ancient Greek οὖρον (oûron, “urine”),[2][7][3] which is related to Latin ūrīna, the source of urine.[2][3] The OED compares French urologie, recorded from 1877, and the English urinology.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A treatise or discourse on urines: 1753, in the Supplement to Chambers's Cyclopædia.[2][3] This sense is obsolete.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline glosses the word of 1753 as urinology, the study of the urinary organs.[3] From 1855 it named the scientific study of urine, its secretion and its constituents.[2] The Shorter Oxford dates to the mid-19th century its use for the branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the kidneys and the urinary tract.[4] The words for its practitioners followed: urologist from 1863 in the OED, 1873 in Etymonline.[2][3] Merriam-Webster Unabridged defines the field as concerned with the urogenital tract in men and the urinary tract in women.[5]

Timeline

  • 1753 – a treatise on urines (obsolete).[2][3]
  • 1855 – the scientific study of urine.[2]
  • mid-19th century – the branch of medicine dealing with the kidneys and the urinary tract.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The branch of medicine that studies and treats disorders of the urinary tract and the urogenital system.[8][9][5][4]
  2. The scientific study of urine, its secretion and its constituents.[2]
  3. (obsolete, 1753) A treatise or discourse on urines.[2][4]

Word family

  • urologic
  • urologist

References

  1. ^ 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. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Cite this entry

“Urology.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/urology. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·