Synecological

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Concerning the branch of ecology that examines how whole communities of organisms interact with one another and with their shared environment
2. Describing the study of assemblages of living things as integrated groups and how they relate to the surroundings they occupy together
3. Pertaining to the ecological study of populations and communities of organisms considered as collective units within their habitat

Etymology: Synecological is an adjective formed in English from "synecology" plus the suffix "-ical," meaning "of or relating to synecology," the branch of ecology concerned with communities of organisms rather than single species. The base word "synecology" is itself built from Greek roots: "syn-" (from "sún," meaning "together" or "with") and "ecology," which was coined in the nineteenth century from Greek "oikos," meaning "house" or "dwelling." Put together, the root idea is the study of living things sharing a common dwelling place. The suffix does the grammatical work. "-ical" is an English adjective ending that comes through Middle English "-ical" and "-al," traced back through Old French and Latin "-ālis" and "-icus," which marked something as pertaining to a thing. So "synecological" simply means "pertaining to the synecology," the same way "geological" pertains to geology.

Antonyms: autecological