teleological •
\tel-ee-uh-LAH-jih-kul\ • adjective : exhibiting or relating to design or purpose especially in nature
Examples: At dinner,
Sandra and Miguel debated whether or not the complex structure of the human eye implied a teleological origin.
"There is
also something of a teleological aspect to all this urbanization hoopla, one
that suggests that man was put on this planet to shop at Whole Foods." — Lionel Beehner, USA Today, February 25, 2014
Did you know?
Teleological (which comes to us by way of New Latin from the Greek root tele-,
telos, meaning "end or purpose") and its close relative teleology
both entered English in the 18th century, followed by teleologist in the 19th
century. Teleology has the basic meaning of "the
study of ends or
purposes." A teleologist attempts to understand the purpose of something
by looking at its results. A teleological philosopher might argue that we
should judge whether an act is good or bad by seeing if it produces a good or
bad result, and a teleological explanation of evolutionary changes claims that all such changes occur for a
definite purpose.
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