Ufologies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The study or analysis of unidentified flying objects and their potential existence or origins
2. An examination of phenomena related to extraterrestrial life and the implications for humanity and science
3. The field dedicated to researching reports and evidence of encounters with non-terrestrial crafts and beings

Etymology: "Ufologies" is simply the plural of "ufology", the study of unidentified flying objects. The base word is a compound: "UFO", the initialism for unidentified flying object, followed by the suffix "-logy", which comes from the Greek "lógos", meaning word, reason or discourse, and reached English through Latin "-logia" and French "-logie". The suffix turns up in countless fields, from "biology" to "theology", and "ufology" applies it to the study of UFO reports and sightings. The plural form simply counts separate fields or branches of this study, or separate bodies of work within it, in the same way that "biologies" can refer to different traditions of biology.

Synonyms: alien studies, extraterrestrial research, UFO studies