noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:K R IH2 M IH0 N AA1 L AH0 JH IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
Criminology will help you understand the motivations of lawbreakers.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
the scientific study of crime and criminal behavior and law enforcement
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: sociology
Narrower terms: penology, poenology
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English criminal Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh2 Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek -λογῐ́ᾱ (-logĭ́ā)bor. Latin -logialbor. French -logiebor. English -logy English criminology From criminal + -logy.
Across languages
Translations
58 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
kriminologjia
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Arabic:
علم الجريمَة
(ʕilm al-jarimiyya)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Armenian:
քրեաբանություն
(kʻreabanutʻyun)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Azerbaijani:
kriminologiya
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Basque:
kriminologia
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Belarusian:
крыміналогія
(kryminalóhija)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Bulgarian:
криминология
(kriminologija)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Catalan:
criminologia
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Chinese Mandarin:
犯罪學 /犯罪学
(fànzuìxué)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Czech:
kriminologie
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Danish:
kriminologi
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Dutch:
criminologie
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Esperanto:
kriminologio
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Estonian:
kriminoloogia
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Finnish:
rikosoppi
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Finnish:
kriminologia
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
French:
criminologie
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Galician:
criminoloxía
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Georgian:
კრიმინოლოგია
(ḳriminologia)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
German:
Kriminologie
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Greek:
εγκληματολογία
(egklimatología)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Hebrew:
קרימינולוגיה
(qriminologia)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Hindi:
अपराध शास्त्र
(aprādh śāstra)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Hungarian:
kriminológia
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Icelandic:
afbrotafræði
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Indonesian:
kriminologi
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Italian:
criminologia
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Japanese:
犯罪学
(hanzaigaku)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Kazakh:
криминология
(kriminologiä)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Khmer:
ឧក្រិដ្ឋវិទ្យា
(okrətha’ vityie)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Korean:
범죄학
(beomjoehak)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Latvian:
kriminoloģija
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Lithuanian:
kriminologija
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Macedonian:
криминологија
(kriminologija)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Malay:
kaji jenayah
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Malay:
kriminologi
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Norwegian Bokmål:
kriminologi
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Norwegian Nynorsk:
kriminologi
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Persian:
جرمشناسی
(jarem-šenâsi)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Polish:
kryminologia
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Portuguese:
criminologia
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Romanian:
criminologie
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Russian:
криминоло́гия
(kriminológija)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Serbo-Croatian:
криминологија
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Serbo-Croatian:
kriminologija
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Slovak:
kriminológia
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Slovene:
kriminologija
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Spanish:
criminología
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Swahili:
elimu ya uhalifu
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Swahili:
kriminolojia
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Swedish:
kriminologi
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Tagalog:
kriminolohiya
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Tamil:
குற்றவியல்
(kuṟṟaviyal)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Thai:
อาชญาวิทยา
(àat-yaa-wít-tá-yaa)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Turkish:
kriminoloji
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Ukrainian:
кримінологія
(kryminolohija)
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Vietnamese:
tội phạm học
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
Welsh:
troseddeg
— the study of crime and criminals, especially their behaviour
