Word.ws English Dictionary

taphology

taphology noun: the study of graves and burial.

Noun

taphology (uncountable)

  1. The study of graves and burial.
    • So much has been written upon the subject of this direful malady, a disease which, up to the present time, has baffled the most skillful followers of the Esculapian art, that it seems unnecessary to enter into detail describing the character of the tubercular bacillus, or the numerous failures for...1906, “Tuberculosis. Some Thoughts, Observations and Cases Illustrating What Can be Done in Apparently Hopeless Conditions. […]”, in Medical Century: The National Journal of Homœopathic Medicine and...
    • I hereby challenge Prof. Hagamon to meet me in any hall and debate the following questions: ASTROLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, TAPHOLOGY, TAPHORNOTATHOLOGY, or anything else he chooses.1907 March 13, “Clairvoyant—Prof. Dante’s Defy”, in Indianapolis Morning Star, volume 4, number 281, Indianapolis, Ind., page 13, column 7

Examples of taphology in a sentence

  • So I suggest that the well-beloved epitaph may have been intended as Orare Ben Johnson^([sic])—pray for Ben Jonson (a use of the infinitive frequent in taphology.)[…]”1930 July 6, “Is It True That Morley Is Lamb’s Inheritor?”, in The Vancouver Sunday Province, number 100, Vancouver, B.C., section “A...
  • Gilbert, assistant professor, economics; Mington Lai, postdoctoral fellow, plant taphology; Norma Seerley, instructor, rural sociology; John G.1966 October 19, “Staff Changes at SDSU Announced”, in Sioux Falls Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, S.Dak., page 22, column 4:
  • It is therefore necessary to establish the dividing line between taphonomy and taphology, and to further define the main tendencies governing the act of deliberate burial.1988, Yuri Smirnov, “Mousterian Burials”, in Social Sciences, volume XIX, number 1, USSR Academy of Sciences, page 138:

Origin of taphology

From tapho- + -logy.

Words formed from taphology

Questions about taphology

What does taphology mean?
Taphology means the study of graves and burial.
How do you use taphology in a sentence?
So I suggest that the well-beloved epitaph may have been intended as Orare Ben Johnson^([sic])—pray for Ben Jonson (a use of the infinitive frequent in taphology.)[…]”
What part of speech is taphology?
Taphology is a noun.

Words near taphology in the dictionary

  1. taphole
  2. tapholes
  3. taphological
  4. taphologist
  5. taphologists
  6. taphology
  7. taphomorph
  8. taphomorphs
  9. taphon
  10. taphonomic
  11. taphonomical

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taphology (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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