osteology

1 8.8

The study of bones and how they work

noun
/ˌɑːstɪˈɒlədʒi/

Specialized

: osteología

Osteology can confirm that the skeletal remains match very well what we know of Richard from historical sources.
human osteology

Examples

Osteology is an important field that helps us understand the structure and function of bones.
The course on osteology covers the anatomy of the human skeleton in detail.
Herophilus (335-280 BC) and Erasistratus (304-250 BC) were the first to study anatomy via visual means by assembling a human skeleton for osteology.

Academic text (2016)
Researchers in osteology analyze ancient bones to gain insight into historical populations.

Surface Forms

osteology singular

osteologies plural

Morphology

osteology = osteo + logy

This is a transparent learned formation meaning 'study of bones', built from the combining form 'osteo-' and the suffix '-logy'.

Etymology

The word osteology comes from Greek parts osteo- meaning 'bone' and -logy meaning 'study', the same -logy you see in biology and geology. So osteology is the 'study of bones' and refers to the branch of science that looks at bone structure and function.