ecology

noun

Etymology: Calque of German Ökologie (coined in 1866 by Ernst Haeckel), from Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) + -λογία (-logía, “study of”). By surface analysis, eco- + -logy.

1. The branch of biology dealing with the relationships of organisms with their environment and with each other.

   “As a graduate student, he was working on a thesis: The Ecology of the Black Creek Area. He had to investigate the relationships, past and present, of men and plants and animals in this region.”

   “As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.”

2. Any study of the relationships of components of a system with their environment and with each other.

   “social ecology”

   “linguistic ecology”

3. The totality or pattern of relationships of components of a system with their environment and with each other.