morphology

Pronunciation: /mɔːˈfɒlədʒi/

Definition of morphology

noun (plural morphologies)

1 [mass noun] the study of the forms of things, in particular:
the branch of biology that deals with the form of living organisms, and with relationships between their structures.
Linguistics the study of the forms of words, in particular inflected forms: grammar is organized along two main dimensions: morphology and syntax a generative approach to Italian morphology

2a particular form, shape, or structure.

Derivatives

morphologic
morphological
morphologically
morphologist

Origin:

mid 19th century: from Greek morphē 'form' + -logy

Grammar

The study of how words are built up and how they change according to their use in sentences. With syntax it forms the grammar of the language. This can be shown in the following sentence:Bharati’s words gave him an idea. Morphology tells us, for example, that the plural of the nounword is formed by adding the letter ‘s’, and that the verbgive is irregular and its past tense is gave. Syntax tells us that the sentence is simple and is made up of a subject, verb, indirect object, and direct object.

morphology in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of morphology in the US English dictionary

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Other

morphology

noun (plural morphologies)

Derivatives

morphologic

morphological

morphologically

morphologist

Origin:

Grammar

morphology in other Oxford dictionaries

Nearby words

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