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morphology

morphology

2 8.9
The study of land shapes like hills, valleys, and coasts and how they change over time
  • noun
  • /mɔrˈfɑlədʒi/
  • Specialized
translation icon : morfología
  • In the periphery of the carcinoid, a small area with similar morphology to the diagnosed adenocarcinoma was detected.
  • urban morphology
  • channel morphology
  • surface morphology

Examples

  • The theme of settlement morphology shaped by transportation is continued in Colten's chapter on changing transportation technology.

    Academic text (1998)
  • The location of the city also relates to the morphology of the Judean hills.

    Academic text (1990)
  • As a result, the church greatly influenced the morphology of the early medieval city.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Field data on beach morphology and sediment characteristics were gathered at sites identified by boldface type.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Though travelers and scholars have long noted the site's strange morphology, its function in Inca times is a source of enduring mystery.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Essentially identical: By design, basins were essentially identical in morphology and hydrology.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Below the sediment-water interface, the morphology of organisms and the physical attributes of the environment differ markedly.

    Academic text (2000)
  • There are other species that also manage to persist in the old-growth canopy that exhibit clearly distinctive morphologies.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Secondary electron imaging (SEI mode) was used for better visualization of the morphology of the ambient-air particles.

    Academic text (2004)
  • The morphology of the canyon reveals the processes that shaped the land over millions of years.

Synonyms

geomorphology
vsmorphology
  • Specialized
1 9.9

The study of land shapes and how they form

focuses more on formation and evolution of rocks and landforms

Compounds

compound morphology
  • Specialized
7.1

The study of how two words join to make new words like toothbrush

8.7

Making new words by adding prefixes or suffixes to other words

9.3

The way word endings change to show tense, number, or case

rule of morphology
  • Specialized
7.4

A way that shows how words are made and changed in a language

Surface Forms

morphology singular
morphologies plural

Morphology

morphology = morph (semi-transparent) = morph + ology

The word is built from morph plus the learned suffix -ology, but the geological sense is a specialized technical extension of 'study of form'.

Etymology

Morphology comes from the Greek parts morph 'shape' and -logy 'study'. So in geology, morphology is the study of the shapes of rocks and land, which is why geologists look at land forms and how they change.