PHILOLOGY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does philology mean? 

• PHILOLOGY (noun)
  The noun PHILOLOGY has 1 sense:

1. the humanistic study of language and literature

  Familiarity information: PHILOLOGY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PHILOLOGY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The humanistic study of language and literature

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

linguistics; philology

Hypernyms ("philology" is a kind of...):

arts; humanistic discipline; humanities; liberal arts (studies intended to provide general knowledge and intellectual skills (rather than occupational or professional skills))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "philology"):

dialectology (the branch of philology that is devoted to the study of dialects)

lexicology (the branch of linguistics that studies the lexical component of language)

Derivation:

philological (of or relating to or dealing with philology)

philologist (a humanist specializing in classical scholarship)

 Context examples 

Jacob was a pioneer in the study of German philology, and although Wilhelm’s work was hampered by poor health the brothers collaborated in the creation of a German dictionary, not completed until a century after their deaths.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

He had received a consignment of books upon philology and was settling down to develop this thesis when suddenly, to my sorrow and to his unfeigned delight, we found ourselves, even in that land of dreams, plunged into a problem at our very doors which was more intense, more engrossing, and infinitely more mysterious than any of those which had driven us from London.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)