teleology

Syllables: tel·e·o·logy/ˌtiːliˈɒləd͡ʒi//ˌtɛliˈɑləd͡ʒi/

teleology noun: the study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences, that is, of such occurrences being the result of intention instead of prior causes.

Image: Raphael, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

teleology (countable and uncountable, plural teleologies)

(uncountable) The study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences, that is, of such occurrences being the result of intention instead of prior causes.
- The received intellectual tradition has it that, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, revolutionary philosophers began to curtail and reject the teleology of the medieval and scholastic Aristotelians, abandoning final causes in favor of a purely mechanistic model of the Universe.2008, Monte Ransom Johnson, “Historical Background to the Interpretation of Aristotle’s Teleology”, in Julia Annas, Lindsay Judson, editors, Aristotle on Teleology (Oxford Aristotle Studies), Oxford...
1. (broadly, uncountable) Design, final purpose, or intention in a natural occurrence; (countable) an assertion or instance of this.
  - Their proposed explanation at the time was riddled with teleology.
  - In short, what every student of biology knows – that within nature there is a teleology having to do with the survival of the species which underpins the distinction between the two sexes and produces between them a natural affinity for one another – no surgeon who knows what is good for him may...2011 April 17, Paul A[nthony] Rahe, “Truths You Cannot Utter”, in Ricochet, archived from the original on 27 Mar 2022
(uncountable) The belief or theory that a natural occurrence is the result of divine design or intention rather than the laws of nature or science; theoteleology; (countable) a particular belief or theory of this sort.

teleology meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Kannada

teleology in Hindi

study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences: उद्देश्यवाद uddeśyavād

teleology in Bengali

study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences: উদ্দেশ্যবাদ uddeśśobad

teleology in Kannada

ಮೂಲಸಂಕಲ್ಪ ಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತ

More languagesFewer languages

teleology in Arabic: غائية
teleology in Indonesian: teleologi
teleology in Persian: غایتانگاری
teleology in Vietnamese: cứu cánh luận, mục đích luận

Antonyms of teleology

dysteleology

Forms of teleology

plural	teleologies

Origin of teleology

Partly borrowed from French téléologie and from German Teleologie + English -logy (suffix denoting a branch of learning or study of a particular subject). Téléologie and Teleologie are both derived from Late Latin teleologia, from Ancient Greek τέλεος (téleos) (the genitive singular of τέλος (télos, “final cause, purpose”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to turn end-over-end; to revolve around, hence, to dwell, sojourn”)) + Latin -logia (suffix denoting the logical discourse or study of a subject) (from Ancient Greek -λογῐ́ᾱ (-logĭ́ā, suffix denoting a branch of learning or study of a particular subject), from λόγος (lógos, “that which is said or thought; subject matter”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect, gather”)) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns)). By surface analysis, teleo- (prefix meaning ‘end, goal, purpose’) + -logy.

Words formed from teleology

Words that rhyme with teleology

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about teleology

What does teleology mean?: Teleology means the study of the design or final purpose of natural occurrences, that is, of such occurrences being the result of intention instead of prior causes.
What is teleology in Hindi?: Teleology in Hindi is उद्देश्यवाद (uddeśyavād). See Teleology meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is teleology?: Teleology is a noun.
How do you pronounce teleology?: Teleology is pronounced /ˌtiːliˈɒləd͡ʒi/ (UK).
What is the plural of teleology?: The plural of teleology is teleologies.

Words near teleology in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: teleology (page history and authors); teleology (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); teleology (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-teleology.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-teleology.wav.

Cite this entry: “teleology.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/teleology. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.