fə̇ˈläləjē, -ji noun
( -es )
Etymology: French philologie, from Middle French, from Latin philologia love of talk, speech, or argument, from Greek, love of argument, learning, and literature, from philologos love of words and learning + -ia -y
1. : study of literature that includes or may include grammar, criticism, literary history, language history, systems of writing, and anything else that is relevant to literature or to language as used in literature : literary or classical learning
2.
a. : linguistics ; especially : historical and comparative linguistics
b. : the study of human speech especially as the vehicle of literature and as a field of study that sheds light on cultural history