dermatology
der-muh-TOL-oh-jee
Medical/scientific field (not a taxon)
the study (science) of the skin
Literally: skin + study of
| Part | Meaning | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| dermat- | skin | Greek (derm, =a, -ato, -o) | dermato- is the combining form of Greek derma (stem dermat-); the final -o- is absorbed into the -ology suffix |
| -o- | connecting vowel | links dermato- to -logy; the two -o- vowels merge into one | |
| -logy | the science or study of | Greek (-ology) | from logos (word, discourse, study); the standard suffix for a field of study |
A compound formed entirely from Greek elements. The head noun is dermato- (Greek derma, genitive dermatos, 'skin'), joined by the combining vowel -o- to the suffix -logy (-logia, 'discourse, study'). The word functions as a singular feminine noun in English (borrowed via New Latin dermatologia). The spurious matches for der- ('neck/hide'), mat- ('foolish'), and olo- ('whole/destroy') are coincidental overlaps and play no role in the word's formation.
Pronunciation
- der-muh-TOL-oh-jee Antepenult stress: the penult vowel (-ol-) is short and followed by only one consonant before another vowel, so stress falls on the antepenult of the four-syllable stem — effectively the third syllable from the end: TOL.
Other readings
derm-o-logy is an older, shorter variant (dermology) occasionally seen but non-standard; dermato- is the canonical combining form.
The dictionary entry 'derm, =a, -ato, -o' confirms dermato- as the standard combining form for 'skin'. The overlapping matches der- ('neck/hide'), mat- ('foolish/idle'), and olo- ('whole/destroy') are artefacts of substring search and are etymologically irrelevant here. 'dermatology' is not a biological taxon but a medical/scientific discipline; no author or year citation is standard.