# morphology

/mɔɹˈfɑɫədʒi/ (US) · /mɔːfˈɒlədʒi/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/morphology
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. linguistics

noun · CEFR C1 · Academic · Technical

the study of how words are formed from smaller parts, like prefixes and suffixes.

For teachers: the branch of linguistics that studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which they are formed from morphemes.

- In morphology class, we learned how adding '-ed' changes a verb to the past tense.
- The professor argued that the morphology of agglutinative languages presents unique challenges for computational processing models.

Usage: Uncountable when referring to the field of study; countable when referring to the specific system of a language.

### 2. biology

noun · CEFR C1 · Academic · Technical

the study of the size, shape, and structure of animals, plants, and other living things.

For teachers: the branch of biology dealing with the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features.

- Scientists studied the morphology of the bird's beak to understand what it eats.
- Comparative morphology reveals significant similarities between the skeletal structures of various prehistoric marine reptiles and modern cetaceans.

### 3. geology

noun · CEFR C1 · Academic · Technical

the study of the shape and structure of the earth's surface and landforms.

For teachers: the study of the form and structure of rocks and landforms, often focusing on their physical configuration rather than their function.

- The morphology of the valley was changed by the movement of glaciers.
- The coastal morphology has been significantly altered by rising sea levels and increased storm surge frequency over the last decade.

## Examples

- The morphology of the word 'unhappy' includes the prefix 'un-'.
- In biology class, we compared the morphology of different bird beaks to understand how they eat.
- The researcher argued that the morphology of the local rock formations was the result of millions of years of glacial movement and subsequent erosion.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.