glossology

Noun

glossology (countable and uncountable, plural glossologies)

1. The science of language; linguistics.
   • Erudition has been divided by a German professor into glossology, bibliology and historiology; or a knowledge of languages, a knowlege^([sic – meaning knowledge]) of languages, a knowlege of books, and a knowlege of facts.1813 March, “Art. VII. The Lives of John Selden, Esq. and Archbishop Usher, with Notes of the Principal English Men of Letters with whom They were Connected. By John Aikin, M.D. 8vo. pp. 450. 10s....
   • If all nations spoke one and the same language, much of the time now spent in the study of Glossology, would be saved.1841, Roswell Park, “I. Department: Glossology”, in Pantology: Or, A Systematic Survey of Human Knowledge; …, Philadelphia, Pa.: Hogan & Thompson, 30 North Fourth Street, →OCLC, page 42

   Synonyms:

   glottology, linguistics

2. The naming of parts of plants.
   • A plant in flower, surveyed externally, may be perceived to be composed of a variety of obvious parts, such as the root, the stem, the branch, the leaf, the flower, the fruit, and perhaps the seed; and other parts less obvious, as buds, prickles, tendils, hairs, glands, &c. These, with their...1824, J[ohn] C[laudius] Loudon, “Glossology, or the Names of the Parts of Plants”, in An Encyclopædia of Gardening; Comprising the Theory and Practice of Horticulture, Floriculture, Arboriculture...
   • I beg leave to differ from you in printing the etymology of names that are from the Greek in English, and not in Greek letters. I think they would answer the end in view much better if they were in Greek characters; it would be far more conducive to a general knowledge of botanical glossology, and...1827 August 17, J. P., “Art. VIII. Retrospective Criticism.”, in J[ohn] C[laudius] Loudon, editor, The Gardener’s Magazine, and Register of Rural & Domestic Improvement, volume III, number 11...
3. The definition and explanation of terms in constructing a glossary.
   • If the indexed items (E3) are core terms for descriptive glossology (C4), they are underlined, and their definitions will be found in Annex V, in a record indicated by the notation preceding the index term.1981, Fred W[arren] Riggs, Interconcept Report: A New Paradigm for Solving the Terminology Problems of the Social Sciences, Volumes 44-53 (Reports and Papers in the Social Sciences; 47), Paris...
   • And in the sanctified, post-exorcist intercourse which leads to conception, Margrethe appears 'obediently', speaking in initiated, divine tongues, interpreted by 'the friends': glossology.1992, Karola Dillenburger, Violent Bereavement: Widows in Northern Ireland, Aldershot, Hampshire: Avebury, →ISBN, page 198
4. The diagnosis of disease by examination of the tongue.
   • To those who doubt the value of a well-defined system of Glossology I would say—let them account for the different appearances of the tongue in scarlet-fever and measles: why in the former it is red, and in the latter limaceous, or white; […]1843 November 4, Benjamin Ridge, “Preface”, in Glossology: Or The Additional Means of Diagnosis of Disease to be Derived From Indications and Appearances of the Tongue. Read before the Senior...
   • He [Benjamin Ridge] professes to have reduced the examination of the tongue for purposes of diagnosis to a system. […] [H]e describes the dyspeptic, febrile, inflammatory, cerebral, rheumatic, pulmonary and cardiac tongue, &c., and he argues that the nature and seat of diseases may be detected and...1844 April 24, “New Medical Works”, in Jerome V[an] C[roninsfield] Smith, editor, The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, volume XXX, number 12, Boston, Mass.: D. Clapp, Jr. proprietor and...