escapology

English

WOTD – 24 March 2016

A c. 1899 photograph of the Hungarian-American escapologist Harry Houdini (1874–1926) in chains

Etymology

escape +‎ -ology.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛskəˌpɒlədʒiː/
• Hyphenation: es‧cap‧o‧lo‧gy

Noun

escapology (usually uncountable, plural escapologies)

1. The study or art of escaping from a constriction, such as a rope, handcuffs, etc.
   • 2001 October, M. Lucas [et al.], U. Karrer, A. Lucas, P. Klenerman, “Viral Escape Mechanisms – Escapology Taught by Viruses”, in International Journal of Experimental Pathology‎^[1], volume 82, number 5, [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11703537 ���PMID], →PMCID, archived from the original on 4 August 2015, abstract, pages 269–286 at 269:

     Viruses have ‘studied’ immunology over millions of years of coevolution with their hosts. During this ongoing education they have developed countless mechanisms to escape from the host's immune system. […] These escape strategies have been described as ‘camouflage’ and ‘sabotage’. Using these simple concepts we describe the spectrum of viral escapology […]

2. (figurative) The escape from a difficult situation
   • 2018 April 10, Daniel Taylor, “Liverpool go through after Mohamed Salah stops Manchester City fightback”, in The Guardian (London)‎^[2]:

     Might it have been any different had Leroy Sané’s goal, late in the first half, not been wrongly given offside? Nobody will ever know but it was certainly true that City were threatening a remarkable feat of escapology in that part of the match.

Derived terms

• escapologist

Translations

the study or art of escaping from a constriction

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 脫逃術／脱逃术, 脱逃术 (tuōtáoshù)

• Finnish: eskapologia
• French: escapologie (fr) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 脱出芸 (だっしゅつげい, dasshutsu-gei)
• Occitan: escapologia f
• Swedish: utbrytarkonst