Plants & CreaturesGreek → English
Herpetology
/ˌhɜːrpɪˈtɑːlədʒi/noun
The branch of zoology dealing with reptiles and amphibians.
The Greek roots
ἑρπετόν
herpetón
creeping animal
λογία
-logía
study, discourse
Literally: “study of creeping things”
The story of the word
Greek ἑρπετόν came from ἕρπω, to creep, and covered anything that went along the ground, snakes and lizards but also assorted vermin. Naturalists narrowed it to reptiles and amphibians when they built the modern name around 1800, first in French. The same creeping verb gave medicine herpes, named for a rash that spreads across the skin.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- early 19th century
Same family
herpesherpetofaunazoologybiology
In a sentence
He drifted from birdwatching into herpetology after finding a slow-worm under the compost heap.