ophiologyn.
/ˌɒfɪˈɒlədʒi/, U.S. /ˌɑfiˈɑlədʒi/, /ˌoʊfiˈɑlədʒi/ Zoology.† 1. A snake fauna. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by habitat > [noun] > of a particular region (fauna) > of particular type
ophiology1815
inquiline1879
pilgrim1888
microfauna1895
topomorph1897
faunule1909
cryptozoa1911
epifauna1914
macrofauna1918
megafauna1927
macrobenthos1942
meiobenthos1942
microbenthos1942
meiofauna1950
megafauna1975
1815 De W. Clinton Introd. Disc. Lit. & Philos. Soc. N.Y. 31 Our ophiology is..of a very limited range. We have between thirty and forty species of serpents.
2. The branch of zoology that deals with snakes. Also: a treatise on snakes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > zoology > study of specific types of animal > [noun] > reptiles > serpents or snakes
ophiology1817
snakeology1820
1817 Edinb. Monthly Mag. May 187/1 Reserving the history of the serpent tribes for the article Ophiology.
1884 Amer. Naturalist 18 162 The work brings the subject of Mexican Ophiology nearer to date than any general work, and includes a number of species of North America and the West Indies.
1924 M. Roberts W. H. Hudson xi. 134 He intended to write a long book about them [sc. snakes] and accumulated a mass of notes sufficient for some great general ophiology.
1974 S. Hook Idea of Mod. University ii. 106 The study of snaky words, a study that might properly be called ‘verbal ophiology’.
1988 ELH 55 143 The character of Geraldine may owe something to Coleridge's reading regarding vampires and medical demonology, lamias, ophiology, and the transmigration of souls.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1815