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Etiology (/ˌiːtiˈɒlədʒi/; alternatively spelledaetiology orætiology) is the study ofcausation or origination. The word is derived from theGreek wordαἰτιολογία (aitiología), meaning "giving a reason for" (from αἰτία (aitía) 'cause' and -λογία (-logía) 'study of').[1] More completely, etiology is the study of the causes, origins, or reasons behind the way that things are, or the way they function, or it can refer to the causes themselves.[2] The word is commonly used inmedicine (pertaining to causes of disease or illness) and inphilosophy, but also inphysics,biology,psychology,political science,geography,cosmology,spatial analysis andtheology in reference to the causes or origins of variousphenomena.
In the past, when many physical phenomena were not well understood or when histories were not recorded,myths often arose to provide etiologies. Thus, an etiological myth, ororigin myth, is a myth that has arisen, been told over time or written to explain the origins of various social or natural phenomena. For example,Virgil'sAeneid is anational myth written to explain and glorify the origins of theRoman Empire. Intheology, many religions havecreation myths explaining the origins of the world or its relationship to believers.
In medicine, the etiology of an illness or condition refers to the frequent studies to determine one or more factors that come together to cause the illness. Relatedly, when disease is widespread,epidemiological studies investigate what associated factors, such as location, sex, exposure to chemicals, and many others, make a population more or less likely to have an illness, condition, or disease, thus helping determine its etiology. Sometimes determining etiology is an imprecise process. In the past, the etiology of a common sailor's disease,scurvy, was long unknown. When large, ocean-going ships were built, sailors began to put to sea for long periods of time, and often lacked fresh fruit and vegetables. Without knowing the precise cause,Captain James Cook suspected scurvy was caused by the lack of vegetables in the diet. Based on his suspicion, he forced his crew to eatsauerkraut, a cabbage preparation, every day, and based upon the positive outcomes, heinferred that it prevented scurvy, even though he did not know precisely why. It took about another two hundred years to discover the precise etiology; the lack ofvitamin C in a sailor's diet.
The following are examples of intrinsic factors:
An etiological myth, or origin myth, is amyth intended to explain the origins of cult practices, natural phenomena, proper names and the like. For example, the nameDelphi and its associated deity,Apollon Delphinios, are explained in theHomeric Hymn which tells of how Apollo, in the shape of adolphin (delphis), propelledCretans over the seas to make them his priests. While Delphi is actually related to the worddelphus ("womb"), many etiological myths are similarly based onfolk etymology (the term "Amazon", for example). In theAeneid (publishedc. 17 BC),Virgil claims the descent ofAugustus Caesar'sJulian clan from the heroAeneas through his sonAscanius, also called Iulus. The story ofPrometheus' sacrificetrick at Mecone inHesiod'sTheogony relates how Prometheus trickedZeus into choosing the bones and fat of the first sacrificial animal rather than the meat to justify why, after a sacrifice, the Greeks offered the bones wrapped in fat to the gods while keeping the meat for themselves. InOvid'sPyramus and Thisbe, the origin of the color of mulberries is explained, as the white berries become stained red from the blood gushing forth from their double suicide.
The dictionary definition ofetiology at Wiktionary