palaetiology

From palaeo- +‎ aetiology. Coined by William Whewell.

palaetiology (uncountable)

1. (archaic, geology) The science that explains, by the law of causation, the past condition and changes of the Earth.

Rarely, if ever, used without reference to Whewell.

• palaetiological
• palaetiologist

• “palætiology”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.