filicology

From Latin filic- (stem of filix (“fern”)) + English -ology (a variant of -logy (suffix denoting the study of a particular subject)).^[1] Filix is probably derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“henbane”) + Latin -ix (a variant of -ex (suffix found in plant names such as cārex (“sedge”) and rumex (“sorrel”))).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fɪlɪˈkɒləd͡ʒi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /fɪlɪˈkɑləd͡ʒi/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒlədʒi
• Hyphenation: fil‧ic‧o‧lo‧gy

filicology (uncountable)

1. (botany, rare) The botanical study of ferns.

   Hypernym: pteridology

   • [1847, John Lindley, “A Glossary of the Principal English, Latin, and Latinized Technical Terms Employed in Botany”, in The Elements of Botany, Structural and Physiological; […], London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC, page xxxix, column 2:

     ‡ Filicology.—That part of Botany which treats of Ferns.

     The entry is marked with a double dagger (‡), indicating that, according to the author, “a word is obsolete, or objectionable, or rarely used in the sense given”: page iii.]

   • 1853 June 10 (date delivered), J. R. Kinahan, “[On the Classification and Nomenclature of Ferns]”, in Edward Newman, editor, The Phytologist: A Popular Botanical Miscellany, volume IV, London: John Van Voorst, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 1037:

     I think the same plan might be pursued in general Botany, with a good effect; but it is of far greater importance in Filicology, as so many of this class of plants may be recognized by their external form alone.

   • 1856, J[ohn] W[illiam] Griffith, Arthur Henfrey, “FERNS”, in The Micrographic Dictionary; a Guide to the Examination and Investigation of the Structure and Nature of Microscopic Objects, London: John Van Voorst, […], →OCLC, page 260, column 1:

     The mode of ramification of the veins or nerves of the leaves is important in systematic Filicology, and may be observed for such purposes by immersing the dried leaflets in turpentine or oil, or mounting them in Canada balsam.

   • 2002, William Lowell Putnam [III], “Later and Farther North”, in Charles Ernest Fay [et al.], A Century of American Alpinism, Boulder, Colo.: The American Alpine Club, →OCLC, page 26:

     In the succeeding three years, [Howard] Palmer kept at it, generally in company with two vigorous companions, Edward Willett Dorland Holway, […] and Frederick King Butters, a younger associate in filicology at the same school [the University of Minnesota].

     “[A]dapted from portions of several passages that appeared in the Club’s earlier guidebooks and the Club’s 1982 volume, The Great Glacier and Its House”: page 21.

• filicologist

• filicoid

• fern on Wikipedia.Wikipedia