From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia.
Etiology (alternately
aetiology, aitiology)
is the study of
causation. The term (deriving
from the
Greek words aitia =
cause and logos =
word/speech) is used in
philosophy,
physics and
biology in reference to the
causes of various phenomena. It is
generally the study of why things
occur, or even the reasons behind
the way that things act.
In
medicine in particular, the
term means the occurrences,
reasons, and variables of
diseases or
pathologies. On
[1] there is a informative
text about the etiology of
cleft lips explaining several
methods of the etiological
science.
An aetiological myth is
a
myth intended to explain a
name. For example, the name
Delphoi and its associated
deity,
Apollon Delphinios, are
explained in the
Homeric Hymn which tells how
Apollo carried
Cretans over the sea in the
shape of a
dolphin to make them his
priests. While there is an actual
etymological connection between
Delphoi and delphis (delphus
means "womb"), many aetiological
myths are based on
popular etymology (the term "Amazon",
for example).
