felinology

English

Etymology

From feline +‎ -ology.

Noun

felinology (uncountable)

1. The study of cats.
   • 1878 October 12, “The Cost in Time and Material of Killing a Cat”, in Daily Evening Republican, volume I, number 288, Columbus, Ind., column 2:

     But your chances of killing the cat decrease as the square of the distance increase. This is an axiom in natural philosophy, and a fundamental truth of felinology.

   • 1954 June 17, B. C. Threadgill, “The Cat Came Back, But How Did He Do It?”, in The Birmingham News, number 82, Birmingham, Ala., column 5:

     Country people in going through strange woods blaze a trail so they can retrace their steps. If animals do the same, are they directed by the blazes of sight or scent? Some veterinarian or one versed in “felinology” might help me and I covet his knowledge on the information asked for.

   • 1982 May 5, Jacqueline Toller, “‘Be Kind’ week celebrated all year”, in The Odessa American, volume 57, number 125, Odessa, Tex., page 2C, columns 3–4:

     Especially cats, who think they have done Earth’s entire populace a favor just for being cats. Which also exempts them from blame, according to felinology.

   • 2015 January 27, Darryl Levings, “Frothy Facts: Wired cats, North Korean hairstyles and space gravel; The Kiss of Minutiae”, in The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Mo., page D1:

     But enough of this stomatology (the study of the mouth, not be confused with philematology, the science of kissing). We have bigger fish to fry in ichthyology, biology, cosmology and — break out the cute cat videos — felinology.

   • 2017 October 5, “10 To Do”, in Edmonton Journal, Edmonton, Alta., section “Uptights”, page B3, column 3:

     Make sure to say hello to drummer Barry Higginson, who aside from his musical skills is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on felinology.

Derived terms

• felinological
• felinologically

Further reading

• Felinology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia