teratology

[ ter-uh-tol-uh-jee ]

nounBiology.
  1. the science or study of monstrosities or abnormal formations in organisms.

Origin of teratology

1
First recorded in 1670–80; terato- + -logy

Other words from teratology

  • ter·a·to·log·i·cal [ter-uh-tl-oj-i-kuhl], /ˌtɛr ə tlˈɒdʒ ɪ kəl/, adjective
  • ter·a·tol·o·gist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use teratology in a sentence

  • In man and other placentaires, the forked prong is a teratological fact only encountered in incomplete double monsters.

  • His teratological work is important, and is chiefly contained in the second volume of the Philosophie anatomique.

    Form and Function | E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
  • Teratological phenomena attributable to the imagination of the mother are so numerous that they cannot be refuted.

    Reincarnation | Th. Pascal
  • Embryologists imitate known natural teratological states of the nerve centres by artificial methods.

    Degeneracy | Eugene S. Talbot
  • The teratological data bearing on this subject have been given at pp. 262–272.

    Vegetable Teratology | Maxwell T. Masters

British Dictionary definitions for teratology

teratology

/ (ˌtɛrəˈtɒlədʒɪ) /


noun
  1. the branch of medical science concerned with the development of physical abnormalities during the fetal or early embryonic stage

  2. the branch of biology that is concerned with the structure, development, etc, of monsters

  1. a collection of tales about mythical or fantastic creatures, monsters, etc

Derived forms of teratology

  • teratologic (ˌtɛrətəˈlɒdʒɪk) or teratological, adjective
  • teratologist, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for teratology

teratology

[ tĕr′ə-tŏlə-jē ]


  1. The scientific study of birth defects.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.