noun · 4 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:/ˌtiːliˈɒləd͡ʒi/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌtɛ-/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˌtɛliˈɑləd͡ʒi/
General-American:/ˌti-/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɒlədʒi
CMU ARPABET:T IY1 L IY0 AO2 L AH0 JH IY2
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences, that is, of such occurrences being the result of intention instead of prior causes.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: human-sciences, philosophy, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences, that is, of such occurrences being the result of intention instead of prior causes.
Design, final purpose, or intention in a natural occurrence; (countable) an assertion or instance of this.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, uncountable
Topics: human-sciences, philosophy, sciences
Examples
Their proposed explanation at the time was riddled with teleology.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: dysteleology
3
noun
Meaning 3
The belief or theory that a natural occurrence is the result of divine design or intention rather than the laws of nature or science; theoteleology; (countable) a particular belief or theory of this sort.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: lifestyle, religion
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
(philosophy) a doctrine explaining phenomena by their ends or purposes
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: philosophical doctrine, philosophical theory
History
Etymology
Partly borrowed from French téléologie and from German Teleologie + English -logy (suffix denoting a branch of learning or study of a particular subject). Téléologie and Teleologie are both derived from Late Latin teleologia, from Ancient Greek τέλεος (téleos) (the genitive singular of τέλος (télos, “final cause, purpose”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kwel- (“to turn end-over-end; to revolve around, hence, to dwell, sojourn”)) + Latin -logia (suffix denoting the logical discourse or study of a subject) (from Ancient Greek -λογῐ́ᾱ (-logĭ́ā, suffix denoting a branch of learning or study of a particular subject), from λόγος (lógos, “that which is said or thought; subject matter”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect, gather”)) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns)). By surface analysis, teleo- (prefix meaning ‘end, goal, purpose’) + -logy.
Across languages
Translations
74 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
teleologie
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Amharic:
ሥነ-ዕላማ
(śənä-ʿəlama)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Arabic:
غائية
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Armenian:
տելեոլոգիա
(teleologia)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Azerbaijani:
teleologiya
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Basque:
teleologia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Belarusian:
тэлеалогія
(teljealóhija)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Bengali:
উদ্দেশ্যবাদ
(uddeśśobad)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Bulgarian:
телеология
(teleologija)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Catalan:
teleologia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Chinese Mandarin:
目的論 /目的论
(mùdìlùn)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Czech:
teleologie
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Danish:
teleologi
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Dutch:
teleologie
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Dutch:
doelmatigheidsleer
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Esperanto:
teleologio
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Estonian:
teleoloogia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Finnish:
teleologia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Finnish:
tarkoitusoppi
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
French:
téléologie
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Galician:
teleoloxía
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Georgian:
ტელეოლოგია
(ṭeleologia)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
German:
Teleologie
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Greek:
τελεολογία
(teleología)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Hebrew:
טלאולוגיה
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Hindi:
उद्देश्यवाद
(uddeśyavād)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Hungarian:
teleológia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Icelandic:
markhyggja
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Ido:
teleologio
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Indonesian:
teleologi
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Interlingua:
teleologia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Irish:
teileolaíocht
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Italian:
teleologia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Japanese:
目的論
(mokutekiron)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Kazakh:
телеология
(teleologiä)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Korean:
목적론
(mokjeongnon)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Central Kurdish:
ئاکامباوەڕی
(akambawerrî)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Kyrgyz:
телеология
(teleologiya)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Latin:
teleologia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Macedonian:
телеологија
(teleologija)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Norwegian Bokmål:
teleologi
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Norwegian Nynorsk:
teleologi
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Occitan:
teleologia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Persian:
غایتانگاری
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Polish:
teleologia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Portuguese:
teleologia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Romanian:
teleologie
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Russian:
телеоло́гия
(teleológija)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Serbo-Croatian:
телеоло̀гија
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Serbo-Croatian:
teleològija
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Slovak:
teleológia
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Spanish:
teleología
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Swedish:
teleologi
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Turkish:
teleoloji
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Turkish:
erek bilimi
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Ukrainian:
телеологія
(teleolohija)
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Uzbek:
teleologiya
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Vietnamese:
cứu cánh luận
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Vietnamese:
mục đích luận
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Waray-Waray:
teleolohiya
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Welsh:
teleoleg
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Welsh:
bwriadaeth
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Welsh:
bwriadeg
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Welsh:
dibenyddiaeth
— study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences
Catalan:
teleologia
— design, final purpose, or intention in a natural occurrence; an assertion or instance of this
Chinese Mandarin:
目的論 /目的论
(mùdìlùn)
— design, final purpose, or intention in a natural occurrence; an assertion or instance of this
Czech:
teleologie
— design, final purpose, or intention in a natural occurrence; an assertion or instance of this
Dutch:
teleologie
— design, final purpose, or intention in a natural occurrence; an assertion or instance of this
Finnish:
teleologinen selitys
— design, final purpose, or intention in a natural occurrence; an assertion or instance of this
Irish:
teileolaíocht
— design, final purpose, or intention in a natural occurrence; an assertion or instance of this
Macedonian:
телеологија
(teleologija)
— design, final purpose, or intention in a natural occurrence; an assertion or instance of this
Portuguese:
teleologia
— design, final purpose, or intention in a natural occurrence; an assertion or instance of this
Russian:
телеоло́гия
(teleológija)
— design, final purpose, or intention in a natural occurrence; an assertion or instance of this
Finnish:
teleologia
— belief or theory that a natural occurrence is the result of divine design or intention rather than the laws of nature or science; a particular belief or theory of this sort
