- the study of the behaviour of animals in their normal environment
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
e•thol•o•gy
(ē thol′ə jē, i thol′-),USA pronunciation n.
e•tho•log•i•cal
(ē′thə loj′i kəl, eth′ə-),USA pronunciation adj.
e′tho•log′i•cal•ly, adv.
e•thol′o•gist, n.
- Animal Behaviorthe study of animal behavior with emphasis on the behavioral patterns that occur in natural environments.
- French éthologie, coined by French zoologist I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1805–61); see ethos, -logy
- 1895–1900; earlier, as the study of relations between an organism and its environment
e•thol′o•gist, n.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
ethology /ɪˈθɒlədʒɪ/ n
'ethology' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):