Homology

noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; specifically, such relationship in the context of the geometry of perspective.
  • Grammar: homology is listed as noun.
  • Nearest alternatives: accord, addition, adjunct, affairs.
  • Useful contrasts: difference, dissimilarity, homoplasy.
  • Usage evidence: 1863, George Salmon, A Treatise on Conic Sections, Longman, Brown, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 4th Edition, page 61, Two triangles are said to be homologous, when the intersections of the corresponding sides lie on the same right line called the axis of homology: prove that the lines joining the corresponding vertices meet in a point [called the centre of homology].

How to use "homology"

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  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "homology" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

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Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "homology" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

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Compare nearby meanings

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Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "homology" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

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3. Confirm with context

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Final meaning check

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Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; specifically, such relationship in the context of the geometry of perspective. countable, uncountable

    "1863, George Salmon, A Treatise on Conic Sections, Longman, Brown, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 4th Edition, page 61, Two triangles are said to be homologous, when the intersections of the corresponding sides lie on the same right line called the axis of homology: prove that the lines joining the corresponding vertices meet in a point [called the centre of homology]."

  2. 2
    the quality of being similar or corresponding in position or value or structure or function wordnet
  3. 3
    The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; An automorphism of the projective plane (representing a perspective projection) that leaves all the points of some straight line (the homology axis) fixed and maps all the lines through some single point (the homology centre) onto themselves. countable, uncountable

    "If the homology centre lies on the homology axis, the homology is said to be singular or parabolic; otherwise, it is called non-singular or hyperbolic."

  4. 4
    The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; A general way of associating a sequence of algebraic objects, such as abelian groups or modules, to a sequence of topological spaces; also used attributively: see Usage notes below. countable, uncountable

    "One encounters a similar situation in homology theory. Beside singular homology, which is a homotopy invariant, and Čech homology, which is a shape invariant, there exists strong homology, which is a strong shape invariant. In the special case of metric compacta, this homology was introduced by N.E. Steenrod in 1940 and is often referred to as the Steenrod homology."

  5. 5
    The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; Given a chain complex {Gₙ} and its associated set of homomorphisms {Hₙ}, the rule which explains how each Hₙ maps Gₙ into the kernel of Gₙ₊₁. countable, uncountable

    "Because of their connection with both homology and cohomology, chain complexes are an important topic of study in homological algebra."

Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; The relationship, between elements, of being in the same group of the periodic table. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; The relationship, between organic compounds, of being in the same homologous series. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; The relationship, between characteristics or behaviours, of having a shared evolutionary or developmental origin; countable, uncountable

    "2000, Julie A. Hawkins, Chapter 2: A survey of primary homology assessment, Robert Scotland, R. Toby Pennington (editors), Homology and Systematics, Taylor & Francis, The Systematics Association, page 22, The objective of this study is to classify approaches to primary homology assessment, and to quantify the extent to which different approaches are found in the literature by examining variation in the ways characters are defined and coded in a data matrix."

  4. 9
    The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; The relationship, between characteristics or behaviours, of having a shared evolutionary or developmental origin; (evolutionary theory) specifically, a correspondence between structures in separate life forms having a common evolutionary origin, such as that between mammalian flippers and hands.; specifically, a correspondence between structures in separate life forms having a common evolutionary origin, such as that between mammalian flippers and hands. countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; The presence of the same series of bases in different but related genes. countable, uncountable
  6. 11
    The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; The relationship, between temporally separated human beliefs, practices or artefacts, of possessing shared characteristics attributed to genetic or historical links to a common ancestor. countable, uncountable

Example

"1863, George Salmon, A Treatise on Conic Sections, Longman, Brown, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 4th Edition, page 61, Two triangles are said to be homologous, when the intersections of the corresponding sides lie on the same right line called the axis of homology: prove that the lines joining the corresponding vertices meet in a point [called the centre of homology]."

Common questions

What does "homology" mean?

The relationship of being homologous; a homologous relationship.; specifically, such relationship in the context of the geometry of perspective.

What is a synonym for "homology"?

Common synonyms include: accord, addition, adjunct, affairs, affiliation, affinity.

How do you use "homology" in a sentence?

1863, George Salmon, A Treatise on Conic Sections, Longman, Brown, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 4th Edition, page 61, Two triangles are said to be homologous, when the intersections of the corresponding sides lie on the same right line called the axis of homology: prove that the lines joining the corresponding vertices meet in a point [called the centre of homology].

Etymology

From Latin homologia, from Ancient Greek ὁμολογία (homología, “agreement, assent”); compare French homologie. By surface analysis, homo- + -logy. In topology, first used by French polymath Henri Poincaré, in the sense (close to what is now called a bordism) of a relation between manifolds mapped into a reference manifold: that is, the property of such manifolds that they form the boundary of a higher-dimensional manifold inside the reference manifold. Poincaré's version was eventually replaced by the more general singular homology, which is what mathematicians now mean by homology.

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