Etiology (alternatively aetiology, aitiology) is the study of causation, or origination. The word is derived from the Greek αἰτιολογία, aitiologia, "giving a reason for" (αἰτία, aitia, "cause"; and -λογία, -logia).
The word is most commonly used in medical and philosophical theories, where it is used to refer to the study of why things occur, or even the reasons behind the way that things act, and is used in philosophy, physics, psychology, gover...
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Etiology (alternatively aetiology, aitiology) is the study of causation, or origination. The word is derived from the Greek αἰτιολογία, aitiologia, "giving a reason for" (αἰτία, aitia, "cause"; and -λογία, -logia).
The word is most commonly used in medical and philosophical theories, where it is used to refer to the study of why things occur, or even the reasons behind the way that things act, and is used in philosophy, physics, psychology, government, medicine, theology and biology in reference to the causes of various phenomena. An etiological myth is a myth intended to explain a name or create a mythic history for a place or family.
In medicine in particular, the term refers to the causes of diseases or pathologies. The first ideas about microorganisms were those of the Ancient Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro in a 1st century BC book titled On Agriculture. Contemporary medieval thinking on the etiology of disease was influenced by Galen and Hippocrates. Medieval European...
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