Definition of: morphology

(môr·fol′ə·jē) noun
1. That branch of biology which treats of the form and structure of plants and animals.
2. The form of an organism considered apart from function.
3. Geog. The study of the forms of earth features.
4. Ling. a The branch of linguistics which deals with morphemes, their arrangement in words, and the changes they undergo in various grammatical constructions. b The arrangement, composition, and inflection of the morphemes of a language. [<MORPHO- + -LOGY]
—mor·pho·log·ic (môr′·fə·loj′ik) or ·i·cal adjective
—mor′pho·log′i·cal·ly adverb
—mor·phol′o·gist noun