conchology

[ kong-kol-uh-jee ]

/ kɒŋˈkɒl ə dʒi /

the branch of zoology dealing with the shells of mollusks.

Origin of conchology

1770–80; conch + -o- + -logy

con·cho·log·i·cal

[kong-kuh-loj-i-kuh l] /ˌkɒŋ kəˈlɒdʒ ɪ kəl/, adjective con·cho·log·i·cal·ly, adverb con·chol·o·gist, noun

Conchology was only the form of the science suited to a time when the shell was more considered than its inhabitant.

Birds and All Nature, Vol. VI, No. 2, September 1899 |Various
Col. Whiting called at my office to get the loan of an elementary work on conchology.

Personal Memoirs Of A Residence Of Thirty Years With The Indian Tribes On The American Frontiers |Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
We have dedicated it to the founder of the section Ameria, a gentleman well known for his deep researches in conchology.

Explorations in Australia, The Journals of John McDouall Stuart |John McDouall Stuart
They appointed me clerk of that Committee on Conchology and then allowed me no amanuensis to play billiards with.

Sketches New and Old, Complete |Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

It might have been chess, it might have been conchology, it might have been heraldry.

The Mountebank |William J. Locke

conchology

/ (kɒŋˈkɒlədʒɪ) /

the study and collection of mollusc shells

conchological (ˌkɒŋkəˈlɒdʒɪkəl), adjective conchologist, noun