The suffix -ology indicates the study of what?

• A. Study of
• B. Treatment of
• C. Disease of
• D. Disease process

Answer: (A)

Suffix -ology signals a field of study. It comes from the Greek -logia, meaning “the study of.” In medical terms you see it in words like biology (study of life) or dermatology (study of the skin). So this ending tells you the term refers to the study or science of something, not to treatment or a disease itself. Other endings convey different ideas—-itis for inflammation, -pathy for disease, -ectomy for surgical removal—so -ology specifically points to the act or science of studying the subject.