morphology
morphology
Definition
mor·phol·ogy (môr fäl′ə jē)
noun
- the branch of biology that deals with the form and structure of animals and plants
- the branch of linguistics that deals with word structure and with functional changes in the forms of words, such as inflection and compounding
- the study of the structure, classification, and relationships of morphemes
- any scientific study of form and structure, as in physical geography
- form and structure, as of an organism, regarded as a whole
Etymology: Ger morphologie, coined (1822) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe < Gr morphē, form + Ger -logie, -logy
mor′·pho·log′i·cal (-fə läj′i kəl) adjective or mor′·pho·log′ic
mor′·pho·log′i·cally adverb
mor·phol′o·gist noun
morphology
Usage Examples
Preposition: of
- churchyard: This association together with the location and morphology of the churchyard are clear indicators of an early medieval origin.
- verb: Last updated 8 June 2006 Basque: My previous research was on the morphology of the verb in Basque.
- crystal: The morphology of the crystal was clearly dictated by the template.
Converse of object
- determine: In order to determine the surface morphology and orientation texture of the films, scanning electron microscopy, SEM, was performed.
- describe: Fact sheets describe the morphology of each tree in text and in photographs of bark, twigs, fruits and leaves.
- affect: Overexpression rather than absence of MyoM strongly affected the morphology of D. discoideum.
- influence: Changes in a number of other factors can also influence island morphology ( Figure 1 ).
- understand: Understanding large-scale coastal morphology: a study of Winterton Ness, UK Information on this project will be online shortly.
Adjective modifier
- inflectional: These results provide constraining data for models of inflectional morphology.
- derivational: One of them tested in this study is derivational morphology.
- dendritic: It is well known that dendritic morphology plays an important role in neuronal function.
- abnormal: Low sperm count, poor motility, or abnormal morphology of sperm can make it very difficult to conceive using your partners sperm.
- large-scale: Understanding large-scale coastal morphology: a study of Winterton Ness, UK Information on this project will be online shortly.
- verbal: Chapter Eight presents an analysis of the extensive verbal morphology.
Noun used with modifier
- churchyard: Certainly both the dedication and the churchyard morphology point to an early medieval origin.
- verb: The section on verb morphology accounts for one third of the book.
- sperm: In men, smoking levels affect spermatogenesis ( sperm development ), sperm morphology ( abnormality ) and sperm mobility.
- crystal: The thickening process has not left any indication of the initial crystal morphology.
- colony: They are divided into the following three groups on the basis of their colony morphology on blood agar plates.
- cliff: Cliff morphology may follow a cyclic pattern of response to marine undercutting of the toe that results in cliff failure.
Browse dictionary entries near morphology
- morphol
- morphogenesis
- morphogen
- morpho-
- morphinism
- morphing
- morphine
- -morphic
- Morpheus
- morphemics
- morphophonemics
- morphosis
- -morphous
- morris
- Morris chair
- Morris Jesup
- Morris Worm
- Morrison
- morro
- morrow
