Heterology

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A lack of correspondence between biomolecules or body parts (e.g., proteins, tissues, bones, limbs) that reflects a difference in origin. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    (biology) the lack of correspondence of apparently similar body parts wordnet
  3. 3
    The property of a word or phrase that does not describe itself. countable, uncountable

    "The words ultrashort and onomatopoeia display heterology: ultrashort might be called short but is not an ultrashort word, and onomatopoeia is not an onomatopoeic word."

Example

More examples

"The words ultrashort and onomatopoeia display heterology: ultrashort might be called short but is not an ultrashort word, and onomatopoeia is not an onomatopoeic word."

Etymology

From hetero- + -logy.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.