taphonomy.
The study of the fate of the remains of organisms after they die, especially the study of fossilization.
Meaning & usage
The study of the fate of the remains of organisms after they die, especially the study of fossilization.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Ancient Greek θᾰ́πτω (thắptō) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Hellenic *-os Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek τάφος (táphos)der. Proto-Indo-European *nem-der. Proto-Indo-European *németi Proto-Hellenic *némō Ancient Greek νέμω (némō) ▲ Proto-Hellenic *-os Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek νόμος (nómos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Latin -nomialbor. French -nomiebor. ▲ Latin -nomialbor. English -nomy English taphonomy From tapho- (from Ancient Greek τάφος (táphos, “grave”)) + -nomy.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.