Gigantology

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The study or theory regarding the existence and characteristics of gigantic species or phenomena, particularly in biology and paleontology
2. A scientific exploration focused on the impact and role of large organisms throughout ecological history
3. An academic field examining the implications of size in evolutionary biology and its influence on species' behaviors and environments

Etymology: "Gigantology" is a plain compound built from "giganto-", a combining form of the Greek "gigas" (giant), and "-logy", from the Greek "logia" (a discourse or study, from "legein", to speak or gather). The pattern is the same as "geology" or "biology": a branch of knowledge given a name by attaching a study-suffix to a subject. The surprising part is how the subject narrowed. The Greek "gigas" was already the name for the mythic Gigantes, the earth-born giants who fought the Olympian gods, so the combining form carried a sense of mythic size long before anyone applied it to animals or fossils. "Gigantology" thus names a study whose object is literal bigness in nature, a field that sits between natural history and the older fascination with giant bones.

Synonyms: study of giants, mythology of giants