Standard Lemma guide

morphology

noun · 10 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /mɔːˈfɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /mɔɹˈfɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/
  • Australian: /moːˈfɔl.ə.d͡ʒi/
  • CMU ARPABET: M AO0 R F AA1 L AH0 JH IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A scientific study of form and structure, usually without regard to function. Especially:

The study of the internal structure of morphemes (words and their semantic building blocks).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A scientific study of form and structure, usually without regard to function. Especially:

The study of the form and structure of animals and plants.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A scientific study of form and structure, usually without regard to function. Especially:

The study of the structure of rocks and landforms.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: geography, geology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A scientific study of form and structure, usually without regard to function. Especially:

Mathematical morphology.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

The form and structure of something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A description of the form and structure of something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

the branch of biology that deals with the structure of animals and plants

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: biology, biological science

Narrower terms: anatomy, general anatomy

8

noun

Meaning 8

the branch of geology that studies the characteristics and configuration and evolution of rocks and land forms

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: geomorphology

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: geophysics, geophysical science

Narrower terms: tectonics, plate tectonics, plate tectonic theory, petrology, lithology

9

noun

Meaning 9

the admissible arrangement of sounds in words

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sound structure, syllable structure, word structure

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: structure

Narrower terms: affixation

10

noun

Meaning 10

studies of the rules for forming admissible words

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: grammar

Narrower terms: inflectional morphology, accidence, derivational morphology, compound morphology

History

Etymology

Borrowed from German Morphologie. By surface analysis, morpho- + -logy.

Across languages

Translations

214 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: morfologie — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Albanian: morfologji — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Arabic: مُورْفُولُوجِيَا (morfolōjyā) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Arabic: صَرْف (ṣarf) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Armenian: ձեւաբանություն (jewabanutʻyun) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Azerbaijani: morfologiya — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Balinese: rupawidya — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Belarusian: марфало́гія (marfalóhija) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Belarusian: марфалёгія (marfaljóhija) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Bulgarian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Catalan: morfologia — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Cebuano: morpolohiya — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Chinese Mandarin: 形態學 /形态学 (xíngtàixué) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Czech: tvarosloví — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Czech: morfologie — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Danish: morfologi — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Dutch: morfologie — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Dutch: vormleer — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Estonian: morfoloogia — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Finnish: morfologia — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Finnish: muoto-oppi — a scientific study of form and structure
  • French: morphologie — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Galician: morfoloxía — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Georgian: მორფოლოგია (morpologia) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • German: Morphologie — a scientific study of form and structure
  • German: Formenlehre — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Greek: μορφολογία (morfología) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Hebrew: מוֹרְפוֹלוֹגְיָה (morfológya) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Icelandic: formfræði — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Ido: morfologio — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Indonesian: morfologi — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Italian: morfologia — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Japanese: 形態学 (keitaigaku) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Japanese: 語形論 (gokeiron) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Kazakh: морфология (morfologiä) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Khmer: សណ្ឋានវិទ្យា (sɑnthaan vityiə) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Korean: 형태학 (hyeongtaehak) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Korean: 어형론 (eohyeongnon) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Kyrgyz: морфология (morfologiya) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Latin: morphologia — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Latvian: morfoloģija — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Lithuanian: morfologija — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Macedonian: морфологија (morfologija) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Malay: morfologi — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Norwegian Bokmål: morfologi — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Iranian Persian: مُرْفولوژی (morfoloži) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Iranian Persian: ریخْتْشِناسی (rixtšenâsi) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Polish: morfologia — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Portuguese: morfologia — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Romanian: morfologie — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Russian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Serbo-Croatian: морфоло̀гија — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Serbo-Croatian: morfològija — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Slovak: tvaroslovie — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Slovak: morfológia — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Slovene: oblikoslovje — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Spanish: morfología — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Swahili: mofolojia — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Swedish: morfologi — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Tajik: морфология (morfologiya) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Tatar: морфология (morfologiyä) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Telugu: రూపనిర్మాణశాస్త్రము (rūpanirmāṇaśāstramu) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Thai: สัณฐานวิทยา (sǎn-tǎan-vít-tá-yaa) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Turkish: biçimbilim — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Turkish: morfoloji — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Turkish: biçim bilimi — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Turkmen: morfologiýa — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Ukrainian: морфоло́гія (morfolóhija) — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Uzbek: morfologiya — a scientific study of form and structure
  • Belarusian: марфало́гія (marfalóhija) — the form and structure of something
  • Bulgarian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — the form and structure of something
  • Catalan: morfologia — the form and structure of something
  • Cebuano: morpolohiya — the form and structure of something
  • Chinese Mandarin: 形態 /形态 (xíngtài) — the form and structure of something
  • Dutch: morfologie — the form and structure of something
  • Finnish: muoto — the form and structure of something
  • Finnish: morfologia — the form and structure of something
  • Italian: morfologia — the form and structure of something
  • Japanese: 形態 (keitai) — the form and structure of something
  • Korean: 형태 (hyeongtae) — the form and structure of something
  • Malay: morfologi — the form and structure of something
  • Polish: morfologia — the form and structure of something
  • Portuguese: morfologia — the form and structure of something
  • Romanian: morfologie — the form and structure of something
  • Russian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — the form and structure of something
  • Ukrainian: морфоло́гія (morfolóhija) — the form and structure of something
  • Belarusian: марфало́гія (marfalóhija) — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Bulgarian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Catalan: morfologia — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Cebuano: morpolohiya — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Dutch: morfologie — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Finnish: morfologia — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Italian: morfologia — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Malay: morfologi — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Polish: morfologia — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Portuguese: morfologia — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Romanian: morfologie — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Russian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Ukrainian: морфоло́гія (morfolóhija) — a description of the form and structure of something
  • Albanian: morfologji — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Arabic: صَرْف (ṣarf) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Arabic: مُورْفُولُوجِيَا (murfulūjiyā) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Arabic: تَصْرِيف (taṣrīf) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Aragonese: morfolochía — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Armenian: ձեւաբանություն (jewabanutʻyun) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Balinese: rupawidya — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Belarusian: марфало́гія (marfalóhija) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Bulgarian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Catalan: morfologia — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Cebuano: morpolohiya — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Chinese Mandarin: 形態學 /形态学 (xíngtàixué) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Chinese Mandarin: 構詞學 /构词学 (gòucíxué) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Chinese Mandarin: 詞型變化 /词型变化 (cíxíngbiànhuà) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Chinese Mandarin: 語形學 /语形学 (yǔxíngxué) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Chinese Mandarin: 詞法學 /词法学 — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Czech: morfologie — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Czech: tvarosloví — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Dutch: morfologie — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Dutch: vormleer — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Faroese: formlæra — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Finnish: morfologia — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Finnish: muoto-oppi — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • French: morphologie — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Galician: morfoloxía — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • German: Morphologie — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • German: Wortbildung — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • German: Formenlehre — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Greek: μορφολογία (morfología) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Hindi: पदविज्ञान (padvijñān) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Hungarian: alaktan — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Hungarian: morfológia — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Hungarian: szóalaktan — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Icelandic: orðhlutafræði — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Ido: morfologio — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Irish: moirfeolaíocht — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Italian: morfologia — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Japanese: 形態論 (keitairon) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Khmer: រូបសព្ទ (ruup sap) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Korean: 형태론 (hyeongtaeron) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Malay: nahu bentuk — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Malay: morfologi — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Eastern Mari: морфологий (morfologij) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Eastern Mari: мутлончыш (mutlončyš) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Mongolian: үг зүй (üg züj) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Mongolian: ᠦᠭᠡ ᠵᠦᠢ (üge ǰüi) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Occitan: morfologia — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Persian: صرف (sarf) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Polish: morfologia — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Portuguese: morfologia — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Romanian: morfologie — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Russian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Russian: словообразова́ние (slovoobrazovánije) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Northern Sami: morfologiija — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Northern Sami: hápmeoahppa — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Serbo-Croatian: о̏бликосло̄вље — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Serbo-Croatian: морфоло̀гија — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Serbo-Croatian: ȍblikoslōvlje — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Serbo-Croatian: morfològija — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Lower Sorbian: słowoskład — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Lower Sorbian: morfologija — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Spanish: morfología — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Swahili: mofolojia — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Swedish: morfologi — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Swedish: formlära — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Tagalog: palaturingan — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Tagalog: palaanyuan — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Turkish: biçim bilimi — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Turkish: morfoloji — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Ukrainian: морфоло́гія (morfolóhija) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Urdu: صَرْف (sarf) — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Vietnamese: hình thái học — linguistics: study of the form and structure
  • Balinese: rupawidya — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Belarusian: марфало́гія (marfalóhija) — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Bulgarian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Catalan: morfologia — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Cebuano: morpolohiya — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Chinese Mandarin: 形態學 /形态学 (xíngtàixué) — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Dutch: morfologie — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Dutch: vormleer — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Finnish: morfologia — biology: study of the form and structure
  • French: morphologie — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Hindi: स्वरूपशास्त्र (svarūpśāstra) — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Hungarian: morfológia — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Icelandic: formfræði — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Italian: morfologia — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Japanese: 形態学 (keitaigaku) — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Khmer: សណ្ឋានវិទ្យា (sɑɑsɑnthaan vityiə) — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Korean: 형태학 (hyeongtaehak) — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Malay: morfologi — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Eastern Mari: морфологий (morfologij) — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Polish: morfologia — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Portuguese: morfologia — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Romanian: morfologie — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Russian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Spanish: morfología — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Tagalog: palaanyuan — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Telugu: స్వరూపశాస్త్రము (svarūpaśāstramu) — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Ukrainian: морфоло́гія (morfolóhija) — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Vietnamese: hình thái học — biology: study of the form and structure
  • Belarusian: марфало́гія (marfalóhija) — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Bulgarian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Catalan: morfologia — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Cebuano: morpolohiya — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Dutch: morfologie — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Dutch: vormleer — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Finnish: morfologia — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Hungarian: morfológia — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Italian: morfologia — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Malay: morfologi — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Polish: morfologia — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Portuguese: morfologia — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Romanian: morfologie — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Russian: морфоло́гия (morfológija) — geology: study of the form and structure
  • Ukrainian: морфоло́гія (morfolóhija) — geology: study of the form and structure
Real reading context

morphology in complete knowledge articles