-logy

(redirected from -ologist)
Also found in: Medical.

-logy

or -ology
suff.
1. Discourse; expression: phraseology.
2. Science; theory; study: dermatology; sexology.

[Middle English -logie, from Old French, from Latin -logia, from Greek -logiā (from logos, word, speech; see leg- in Indo-European roots) and from -logos, one who deals with (from legein, to speak; see leg- in Indo-European roots).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

-logy

n combining form
1. indicating the science or study of: musicology.
2. indicating writing, discourse, or body of writings: trilogy; phraseology; martyrology.
[from Latin -logia, from Greek, from logos word; see logos]
-logical, -logic adj combining form
-logist n combining form
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lo•gy

(ˈloʊ gi)

adj. -gi•er, -gi•est.
lacking physical or mental energy or vitality; sluggish; dull; lethargic.
[1840–50, Amer.; perhaps < Dutch log heavy, cumbersome + -y1]
lo′gi•ly, adv.
lo′gi•ness, n.

-logy

a combining form meaning “field of scientific study, discipline,” used also to denote the body of principles, theories, data, etc., produced by learned endeavor ( archaeology; pathology; theology); “set of abstract notions” ( ideology; methodology); “set of texts” ( trilogy); “systematic listing” ( genealogy; necrology); “linguistic usage” (tautology; phraseology).
[Middle English -logie < Latin -logia < Greek. See -logue, -y3]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
"We're looking for ways to build regional programs to leverage resources," she explained, adding, "we don't all need full-time '-ologist doctors.'" Besides, there are degrees of affiliation, she said, describing it as "easy to say, but hard to do.
Fred: Well, the root word is 'zoo' and then the '-ologist' part would be a scientist, so adding it on would make it a person who studies something to do with the zoo, which of course is animals.
"You basically put -ologist on the end of whatever it is you'd like to be doing", a nod to his down and out days, encapsulated best in his classic 'Blue Collar', a soulful blues pastiche which for the most part is a list of cities he's been down and out in, leading to a rousing chorus of 'You can't name where I ain't been down'.