Entomology

[en-tuh-mol-uh-jee] /ˌɛn təˈmɒl ə dʒi/

noun
1.
the branch of zoology dealing with insects.
/ˌɛntəˈmɒlədʒɪ/
noun
1.
the branch of science concerned with the study of insects
n.

1766, from French entomologie (1764), coined from Greek entomon “insect” + -logia “study of” (see -logy). Entomon is neuter of entomos “having a notch or cut (at the waist),” from en “in” (see en- (2)) + temnein “to cut” (see tome).

So called by Aristotle in reference to the segmented division of insect bodies. Compare insect. Related: Entomological. Hybrid insectology (1766, from French insectologie, 1744) is not much used.

I have given the name insectology to that part of natural history which has insects for its object; that of entomology … would undoubtedly have been more suitable … but its barbarous sound terryfy’d me. [Charles Bonnet’s English translation of his “Contemplation de la nature,” 1766]

entomology en·to·mol·o·gy (ěn’tə-mŏl’ə-jē)
n.
The study of insects.
en’to·mo·log’ic (-mə-lŏj’ĭk) or en’to·mo·log’i·cal (-ĭ-kəl) adj.
en’to·mol’o·gist n.
entomology
(ěn’tə-mŏl’ə-jē)
The scientific study of insects.

Our Living Language : Scientists who study insects (there are close to a million that can be studied!) are called entomologists. Why are they not called “insectologists”? Well, in a way they are. The word insect comes from the Latin word insectum, meaning “cut up or divided into segments.” (The plural of insectum, namely insecta, is used by scientists as the name of the taxonomic class that insects belong to.) This Latin word was created in order to translate the Greek word for “insect,” which is entomon. This Greek word also literally means “cut up or divided into segments,” and it is the source of the word entomology. The Greeks had coined this term for insects because of the clear division of insect bodies into three segments, now called the head, thorax, and abdomen.