paleontology

noun

pa·​le·​on·​tol·​o·​gy ˌpā-lē-ˌän-ˈtä-lə-jē How to pronounce paleontology (audio)
-ən-,
 especially British  ˌpa-
: a science dealing with the life of past geologic periods as known from fossil remains
To many Americans, and nearly all young ones, paleontology can be summed up in one word: dinosaurs.Jerry A. Coyne
paleontological adjective
or less commonly paleontologic
paleontologist noun

Did you know?

Until the 1820s, hardly anyone even suspected that dinosaurs had ever existed. In the years since, paleontology has sought to discover the entire history of life on earth, from the era of single-celled organisms up into the human era. Paleontologists continue to make remarkable discoveries, such as that a huge meteorite that fell in the Gulf of Mexico wiped out the dinosaurs—all except the birds, the only surviving dinosaurs. "Radiometric dating" can reveal the age (often tens of millions of years) of a rock or fossil or a tiny grain of pollen by measuring how much its radioactive elements have disintegrated. The study of molecules of DNA, RNA, and proteins has also become important for dating. Paleontologists often consult with geologists searching for oil, gas, and coal deposits, since all these "fossil fuels" were formed from plant and animal remains.

Examples of paleontology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The specimens were wrapped in a protective plastic and transported to the paleontology lab at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum in Bismarck. Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 8 Jan. 2024 Laura is a science news writer, covering a wide variety of subjects, but she is particularly fascinated by all things aquatic, paleontology, nanotechnology, and exploring how science influences daily life. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 29 Feb. 2024 The lack of academic and professional opportunities in paleontology is made worse by the need for more research funding. Santiago Flórez, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Feb. 2024 That fossil is encased in a sandstone boulder and roughly the size of a small car, according to Stimson, an assistant curator of geology and paleontology at the New Brunswick Museum. Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 3 Feb. 2024 The jaw of the dinosaur was found in 1983 by civilians boating in the Elephant Butte reservoir in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Spencer Lucas, curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, told ABC News. Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 11 Jan. 2024 With no paleontology departments or degrees in Colombia, the study of its ancient ecosystems has fallen to geologists. Santiago Flórez, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Feb. 2024 For someone like Annie, who was intellectually driven and who craved a life of adventure outside, paleontology was perfect. Katie Hafner, Scientific American, 4 Jan. 2024 The role oversees some 15 staffers and scientists who conduct active scientific research and outreach in anthropology, biology, paleontology and environmental science while caring for the museum’s collections. Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 3 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'paleontology.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French palaeontologie (later paléontologie), from palae- pale- + ont- (probably from Greek ónta "the things that exist, reality," noun derivative from neuter plural of ont-, ṓn, present participle of eînai "to be") + -o- -o- + -logie -logy — more at is

Note: The French noun was introduced by the zoologist Henri-Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777-1850), as a heading for a summary of work done on fossils in 1821 ("Analyse des principaux Travaux dans les Sciences physiques, publiés dans l'année 1821"), in Journal de physique, de chimie, d'histoire naturelle et des arts, tome 94 (janvier 1822), p. liv. Blainville had earlier (tome 90, 1820, p. 80) used palaeosomiologie in the same sense (for "l'étude des corps organisés fossiles," i.e., the study of fossil organisms), in an effort to find a word that included the remains of both plants and animals, but he seems to have judged this coinage inadequate and replaced it with palaeontologie. See Martin J. S. Rudwick, Worlds before Adam: The Reconstruction of Geohistory in the Age of Reform (University of Chicago Press, 2008), pp. 48-49.

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of paleontology was in 1833

Dictionary Entries Near paleontology

Cite this Entry

“Paleontology.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paleontology. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

paleontology

noun
pa·​le·​on·​tol·​o·​gy ˌpā-lē-ˌän-ˈtäl-ə-jē How to pronounce paleontology (audio)
: a science dealing with the life of past geological periods as known especially from fossil remains
paleontological adjective
also paleontologic

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