morphology

Word family

mor·phol·o·gy /mɔːˈfɒlədʒi $ mɔːrˈfɑː-/ noun (plural morphologies) technical

1. [uncountableU]SL the study of the morphemes of a language and of the way in which they are joined together to make words 〔语言学中的〕词法，形态学 → syntax

2. [uncountableU]HB the scientific study of the form and structure of animals and plants （生物）形态学

3. [countableC, uncountableU]SYSTEM the structure of an object or system or the way it was formed 结构；形态

—morphological /ˌmɔːfəˈlɒdʒɪkəl◂ $ ˌmɔːrfəˈlɑː-/ adjectiveadj

the morphological features of cells

细胞的形态特征

—morphologically /-kli/ adverbadv

Examples from the Corpus

morphology• He had a hungry face; in it Marge detected a morphology she recognized.• These aspects of language performance are more under conscious control than are aspects of sentence structure and morphology.• The Table shows the relation of the number of micro-organisms with both bacterial morphology and their modes of contact with gastric epithelium.• Here, as in other areas, we see ecology emerging from a deliberate revolt against the evolutionary morphology of earlier decades.• In addition to those with macrophage morphology, a population of smaller and more densely stained cells, could be identified.• Inevitably, therefore, our understanding of the site's morphology is considerably clearer than its progressive stages of development.• Vertebrates have a much more intricate and sensitive morphology.• There are significant differences in the morphology and degree of volcanic activity associated with these two types of rift.

Origin morphology

(1800-1900) Greek morphe “form” + English -ology

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus

TOEFL BNC: 13125 COCA: 18221

morphology