autology

Noun

autology (countable and uncountable, plural autologies)

1. (literary, uncommon) The study of oneself.
   • If only the discoverer of autology (self-knowledge) had said, "Let all drugs alone, even Detoxyl, eat simple, nutritious food, sleep and play and work in the open air, and don't worry — then acids and poisons will not accumulate in your system, you will have a high vitality and resisting power...1914, Good Housekeeping Magazine - Volume 58, page 544
   • The distinction between anthropology and autology is fundamental and one that separates the "modern" from the traditional. The central question of anthropology is. What is man ?; that of autology. Who am I ?1974, The International Journal of Critical Sociology - Volumes 1-5, page 38
2. The property of a word or phrase which describes itself.
   • The words multisyllabic and sesquipedalian display autology: multisyllabic is a multisyllabic word, and sesquipedalian is a sesquipedalian word.
   • Holly, the noun for the thorny-leaved shrub of the holiday season requires two Vs. While we righteously call holy the divine autology of spelling, we should compassionately refrain from calling holey (containing holes) an infernal autology.1984, J. Frank Summers, Wholly, holey, holy: an adult American spelling book

   Antonyms:

   heterology

3. (broadly) The ability of a concept to apply to itself.
   • Within systems theory, autology provides the solution to this problem of self-reference. Through the concept of autology, systems theory can describe itself as a form of self-description describing itself.2003, Niels Åkerstrøm Andersen, Discursive Analytical Strategies, →ISBN
   • While contradictions and oppositions within the system have been explained in terms of the inherent otherness (allology) of a system to its environment and the complementary system CS, the accordance of its properties is known as systems autology. The concept of systems autology closely relates to...2011, Markus Locker, Systems Theory and Theology, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   self-referentiality, self-reference