mammalogy

noun

mam·​mal·​o·​gy mə-ˈma-lə-jē How to pronounce mammalogy (audio)
ma-ˈma-,
-ˈmä- How to pronounce mammalogy (audio)
: a branch of zoology dealing with mammals
mammalogist
mə-ˈma-lə-jist How to pronounce mammalogy (audio)
ma-ˈma-
-ˈmä- How to pronounce mammalogy (audio)
noun

Examples of mammalogy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
That a mastodon jaw popped up at a residence near the hamlet of Scotchtown doesn’t surprise Ross MacPhee, senior curator in residence of mammalogy and vertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. — Leslie Katz, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024 Kayce Bell, assistant curator of mammalogy at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, studies parasites in chipmunks, including intestinal parasites called pinworms. — Kate Golembiewski, Discover Magazine, 1 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French mammalogie, by haplology from *mammalologie, from mammal- (base of New Latin Mammalia or French mammalien "mammalian") + -o- -o- + -logie -logy — more at mammal

Note: Perhaps introduced by the French botanist and zoologist Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc (Bosc d'Antic) (1759-1828), who wrote the article Mammalogie in Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, tome 14 (Paris, 1803), pp. 12-23. In regard to the term, Bosc comments that "On nomme ainsi, ou mieux, on doit nommer ainsi, car ce mot n'est pas encore généralement reçu, la science qui a pour objet l'étude des animaux à mamelles ou mammifères, c'est-à-dire des quadrupèdes proprement dits." ("We so designate, or rather we should designate—because this word is not yet generally accepted—the science that has as its object the study of animals with nipples, or mammifers [animals with mammary glands], that is, quadrupeds properly speaking.")

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mammalogy was in 1833

Rhymes for mammalogy

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Browse Nearby Words

mammalogical
mammalogy
Mamma mia
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Cite this Entry

“Mammalogy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mammalogy. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

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Medical Definition

mammalogy

noun
mam·​mal·​o·​gy mə-ˈmal-ə-jē How to pronounce mammalogy (audio) ma-ˈmal- How to pronounce mammalogy (audio)
-ˈmäl-
plural mammalogies
: a branch of zoology dealing with mammals

More from Merriam-Webster on mammalogy

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about mammalogy

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