Pronounced: ter-jih-ver-SAY-shun, noun
Notes: This is a word I could use, if I can remember to use it
Yesterday’s word
The word teleology means
- the belief or the study or design or purpose in nature
- such design or purpose
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1700s
Background / Comments
As I noted, I ran across an adjectival form of our word; a memory stirred — I thought it was in a Lord Peter Wimsey story; possibly Clouds of Witness (by Dorothy Sayers) and was uttered by Peter’s policeman friend Charles. So, I retrieved the book from my library and looked for it; it turned out that I correctly remembered the book and the general location (which was gratifying to my ego). What Charles actually says is “There are many difficulties inherent in a teleological view of creation”. Charles enjoys evangelical theology and is known to relax by reading commentaries. Our word came from the Greek prefix tele- (far; end) and -logy (study).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 