1708, "a treatise on trees;" by 1825 as "the natural history of trees;" see dendro- "tree" + -ology. Related: Dendrological; dendrologist.
Entries linking to dendrology
dendro-
word-forming element meaning "tree," from Greek dendron "tree," sometimes especially "fruit tree" (as opposed to hylē "timber"), from PIE *der-drew-, from root *deru- "to be firm, solid, steadfast," also forming words for "wood, tree."
-ology
word-forming element indicating "branch of knowledge, science," now the usual form of -logy. Originally used c. 1800 in nonce formations (commonsensology, etc.), it gained legitimacy by influence of the proper formation in geology, mythology, etc., where the -o- is a stem vowel in the previous element.
The second element is prop[erly] -logy (-logue, etc.), the -o- belonging to the preceding element; but the accent makes the apparent element in E[nglish] to be -ology, which is hence often used as an independent word. [Century Dictionary]