gerontology

noun

ger·​on·​tol·​o·​gy ˌjer-ən-ˈtä-lə-jē How to pronounce gerontology (audio)
: the comprehensive multidisciplinary study of aging and older adults compare geriatrics
gerontological adjective
or less commonly gerontologic
gerontologist noun

Examples of gerontology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Two years earlier, my father had decided to leave a successful business in mid-career to pursue a doctorate in gerontology, the study of aging. Andrew B. Frank, Baltimore Sun, 14 Apr. 2024 Baker, a gerontology and geriatric medicine professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, has studied aging and cognitive decline for many years. Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024 Valter Longo, professor of gerontology and biological sciences at the University of Southern California, said taking a large amount of supplements risked adverse interactions. Christopher Beam, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2024 Paul Shiels, a professor of cellular gerontology at the University of Glasgow, who was not involved in the new research, says the study was well powered with sizable cohorts. Lori Youmshajekian, Scientific American, 6 Dec. 2023 See all Example Sentences for gerontology 

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French gérontologie, from géronto- geronto- + -logie -logy

Note: The French word was apparently introduced by Élie metchnikoff in Études sur la nature humaine: essai de philosophie optimiste (Paris, 1903), p. 386: "Il nous parait très probable que l'étude scientifique de la vieillesse et de la mort qui devra constituer deux branches de la science, la Gérontologie et la Tanatologie, amènera de grandes modifications dans la marche de la période avancée de la vie." ("It appears very likely to us that the scientific study of old age and death that will have to constitute two branches of science, gerontology and thanatology, will bring about great changes in the course of the last period of life.") The term appears as gerontologija in the corresponding Russian text (Ètjudy o prirodě čelověka [Moscow, 1904], p. 214).

First Known Use

1903, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gerontology was in 1903

Dictionary Entries Near gerontology

Cite this Entry

“Gerontology.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gerontology. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.

Medical Definition

gerontology

noun
ger·​on·​tol·​o·​gy -ə-jē How to pronounce gerontology (audio)
plural gerontologies
: the comprehensive study of aging and the problems of the aged compare geriatric sense 1
gerontological adjective
also gerontologic

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