morphology

noun

mor·​phol·​o·​gy mȯr-ˈfä-lə-jē 

1

a

: a branch of biology that deals with the form and structure of animals and plants

b

: the form and structure of an organism or any of its parts

amphibian morphology

external and internal eye morphology

2

a

: a study and description of word formation (such as inflection, derivation, and compounding) in language

b

: the system of word-forming elements and processes in a language

According to English morphology, the third person singular present tense of a verb is formed by adding -s.

3

a

: a study of structure or form

b

: structure, form

the unique morphology of the city

—H. J. Nelson

4

: the external structure of rocks in relation to the development of erosional forms or topographic features

morphological

ˌmȯr-fə-ˈlä-ji-kəl 

adjective

or less commonly morphologic

ˌmȯr-fə-ˈlä-jik 

morphologically

ˌmȯr-fə-ˈlä-ji-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

morphologist

mȯr-ˈfä-lə-jist 

noun

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What is morphology?

Within the field of biology, morphology is the study of the shapes and arrangement of parts of organisms, in order to determine their function, their development, and how they may have been shaped by evolution. Morphology is particularly important in classifying species, since it can often reveal how closely one species is related to another. Morphology is studied within other sciences as well, including astronomy and geology. And in language, morphology considers where words come from and why they look the way they do.

Examples of morphology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Researchers examined the association between semen parameters (sperm concentration, total sperm count, sperm motility, and sperm morphology) of participants and their mobile phone usage. —Kaitlin Vogel, Health, 17 Nov. 2023

Tooth morphology offers a wealth of information for determining species—but old teeth for comparison number not in the thousands or hundreds but in the tens. —Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Oct. 2023

Splitting off from a type of tanager called a grassquit, the Galápagos finches developed their own morphologies over the course of millions of years of separation. —Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 10 May 2023

An emerging field called synthetic morphology experiments with the structure and function of living things. —Laura Helmuth, Scientific American, 1 May 2023

The Hirota population’s particular skull shape remains unique to their community, as no other crania in the Japanese archipelago have shown similar morphology. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Aug. 2023

These creatures spanned great diversity in their morphology, lifestyles and diets, which means that some dinosaurs were likely much smarter than others. —Sofia Quaglia, Discover Magazine, 28 Apr. 2023

And since no firm evidence existed before about the morphology and ecology of the last common ancestor of tunicates, it was hypothesized that tunicates were either ascidiaceans or appendicularians. —Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 6 July 2023

The soil’s shifting morphology was straining the building’s foundation, and the southern part of the building appeared to be sinking. —Alessio Perrone, Scientific American, 3 Apr. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

German Morphologie, from morph- + -logie -logy

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

morphology

noun

mor·​phol·​o·​gy mȯr-ˈfäl-ə-jē 

1

a

: a branch of biology that deals with the form and structure of animals and plants

b

: the form and structure of a plant or animal or any of its parts

2

: the part of grammar dealing with word formation

3

: structure entry 1 sense 3, form

the morphology of rocks

morphological

ˌmȯr-fə-ˈläj-i-kəl 

adjective

Medical Definition

morphology

noun

mor·​phol·​o·​gy mȯr-ˈfäl-ə-jē 

plural morphologies

1

: a branch of biology that deals with the form and structure of animals and plants especially with respect to the forms, relations, metamorphoses, and phylogenetic development of organs apart from their functions see anatomy sense 1 compare physiology sense 1

2

: the form and structure of an organism or any of its parts