What does entomology mean?
Word: Entomology
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Entomology means the branch of science that studies insects.
Word origin: Comes from Greek entomon, 'insect', and logia, 'study'.
How do you spell entomology?
Syllables: en - to - mol - o - gy
Tricky part: Do not mix it up with etymology, the study of word origins: entomology, the insect science, has an n after its first e.
Watch out for: entamology, entomolgy, antomology
Memory tip: Insect has an n, and so does entomology, right after the e; etymology, the word science, has none.
Entomology in a sentence
Example 1: Entomology tells farmers which insects harm their crops and which ones help.
Example 2: She chose entomology at college after years of collecting butterflies.
Example 3: The entomology section of the museum has a glass case full of shining beetles.
Fun Fact
The entomon in entomology means 'cut into' in Greek, because an insect's body looks notched into head, thorax and abdomen; the Latin insectum, which gave us insect, means the same.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) entomology
b) geografy
c) psycology
d) astronamy
Show answer
a) entomology. Psychology needs its h, astronomy has o after the n, and geography spells the f sound ph.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Last summer my uncle, who teaches entomalogy at a college in Bristol, took us to count fireflies near the lake.
a) college
b) summer
c) fireflies
d) entomalogy
Show answer
d) entomalogy. The vowel after the m is o, not a, just like the o that follows the t.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
molygonote
a) ecology
b) entomology
c) entomologist
d) astrology
Show answer
b) entomology. Ecology and astrology have no m, and entomologist is longer, with an i, an s and a t; ten letters make entomology.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
entomologgy
a) y
b) g
c) o
d) l
Show answer
b) g. A single g comes before the y, as in geology.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A student of entomology would spend time studying ____.
a) old coins and stamps
b) volcanoes and rocks
c) planets and stars
d) grasshoppers and bees
Show answer
d) grasshoppers and bees
2. Which school subject is entomology a part of?
a) biology
b) chemistry
c) geography
d) history
Show answer
a) biology
