morphology (English)
Where does "morphology" come from?
The word 'morphology' stems from the Ancient Greek 'morphḗ', meaning 'shape' or 'form'. It was adopted into German as 'Morphologie' before entering English to describe the scientific study of structure in fields ranging from biology to linguistics.
Full etymology tree
- morphology (English), 'A scientific study of form and structure, usually without regard to function. Especially:'
- borrowed Morphologie (German), 'morphology (a scientific study of form and structure)'
- compound μορφή (morphḗ) (Ancient Greek), 'shape, form'
- inherited *mergʷʰ- (Proto-Indo-European)
- compound -ologie (German), '-ology'
- compound μορφή (morphḗ) (Ancient Greek), 'shape, form'
- borrowed Morphologie (German), 'morphology (a scientific study of form and structure)'
Direct ancestors
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris