-ology, -logy +

1. A method of dating using annual tree-rings; tree-ring chronology.
2. The science of tree-ring analysis and its implications.
3. In archaeology, a method of dating wooden objects by analyzing the pattern of their annual rings and comparing this pattern to an established tree-ring sequence for the region.

1. The scientific and medical study of the causes and transmission of disease within a population.
2. The origin and development characteristics of a particular disease.

1. The study of love and its manifestations.
2. The study of or the “science” of love.

1. A branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind.
2. A belief, or a doctrine, concerning ultimate or final things; such as, death, the destiny of humanity, or the Final Judgment of God.
3. A Christian term that means the study of the end of history from a religious perspective.

Christians of every age since the death of Jesus have been anxiously awaiting the second coming, and looking for advance signs of his return.

Anticipation was intensified as the last year of some centuries approached; particularly 1000 A.D. and 1500 A.D. It was also particularly intense just before the start of the year 2000. The anticipation subsided considerably on January 1, 2000; but it is still an expectation by many Christians.

According to Matthew 24:35-36, Jesus said that no one knows the exact date and time of the end of the world: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."

Despite these words, many Christians still have attempted to predict the year and month; but not necessarily the day and hour of the end.

A branch of biology with a special interest in the search for life on other planets and elesewhere in the universe, and with the study of conditions that might give rise to extraterrestrial life, as well as the study of the effects of extraterrestrial environments.

1. The study of all aspects of aging and the phenomena of old age.
2. The study of aging as a biologic, sociological, and psychological process; geriatric medicine.
3. The scientific study of the process and problems of aging and of age-related diseases on humans.

Aging, a potential crisis in China

• The proportion of elderly people is growing faster in China than in any major country, with the number of retirees set to double between 2005 and 2015, when it will reach 200 million.
• By mid-century, 430 million people (about a third of the population) will be retirees.
• That increase will place enormous demands on the country's finances and could threaten the underpinnings of the Chinese economy, which has thrived for decades on the cheap labor of hundreds of millions of young, uneducated workers from the countryside.
• Changes in China's population structure are taking place hand in hand with changes in the structure of the family.
• The country's so-called one-child policy, which began in 1980, means that beginning with the current gene5ration of young adults, couples will face the stark task of caring for four parents through old age.
• In addition, the ratio of workers to retired people will decline from about six to one now to about two to one by 2040.
• Of course, raising the retirement age from the current 50 to 55 for women and 55 to 60 for men to bring them more in line with international norms would ease a substantial amount of pressure on the pension system.
• Raising the retirement ages presents another set of problems for the government, Chinese social security experts say.
• Last year, for example, 4.13 million young Chinese graduated from universities, and fully 30 percent of them are still unemployed.
• Unemployment is high among non-university graduates, as well. Prolonging employment for older workers would make this predicament worse, possibly with volatile consequences.
• Meanwhile, breaking a lifelong promise and abruptly extending the retirement age would create another large class of malcontents.
• The bind that China finds itself in takes form in an often-posed question: Can the country grow rich before it grows old? Increasingly, experts in China say the answer, which also has huge implication for the global economy, appears doubtful.
• For all of the experts' talk of a looming crisis, many Chinese seem only dimly aware of the country's predicament and many middle-aged people say they have only belatedly begun to prepare themselves for retirement.

The scientific study of the formation, movements, etc. of glaciers.

1. The application of statistics to vocabulary to determine the degree of relationship between two or more languages and the time of their splitting off from a common ancestor.
2. The determination of how long ago different languages evolved from a common source language.

The branch of lexicostatistics that studies the rate of the replacement of vocabulary and attempts to determine what percentage of basic vocabulary two presently distinct, but related languages share, using the information that is obtained to estimate how long ago they ceased being a single language.

The scientific study of engraving upon precious stones, etc.

1. The study of abnormal or diseased tissue or microscopically visible changes in diseased tissue.
2. The study of the structural alteration of cells and tissues caused by disease.

1. Similar characteristics in two animals that are a product of descent from a common ancestor rather than a product of a similar environment.
2. The correspondence of a part or organ of one animal with a similar part or organ of another one, determined by agreement in derivation and development from a like primitive origin, as the foreleg of a quadruped, the wing of a bird, and the pectoral fin of a fish.
3. In chemistry, a similarity in compounds having the same fundamental structure but differing in constituents by a regular succession of changes; such as, the alcohols.

1. The science of measuring time.
2. The art of making timekeeping instruments.

The science or study of or that part of physiological science that deals with the phenomena of sleep and hypnosis.

1. The study of medicine.
2. A rarely used term for medical science.
3. The science of, or a treatise on, medicine.

1. The study of, or the science that treats of, the motions and phenomena of the atmosphere; especially, with a view to forecasting the weather.
2. The character, as regards weather, atmospheric changes, etc., of a particular region.
3. The study of things in the air.