gastrology n.

also gastero-, before vowels gastr-, scientific word-forming element meaning "stomach," from Greek gastro-, combining form of gaster (genitive gastros) "belly, paunch; womb" (see gastric). Also used in compounds in ancient Greek, as gastrobarys "heavy with child."

word-forming element meaning "a speaking, discourse, treatise, doctrine, theory, science," from Greek -logia (often via French -logie or Medieval Latin -logia), from -log-, combining form of legein "to speak, tell;" thus, "the character or deportment of one who speaks or treats of (a certain subject);" from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather," with derivatives meaning "to speak (to 'pick out words')." Often via Medieval Latin -logia, French -logie. In philology "love of learning; love of words or discourse," apology, doxology, analogy, trilogy, etc., Greek logos "word, speech, statement, discourse" is directly concerned.

1814, from French gastronomie, coined 1800 by Joseph de Berchoux (1762-1838) as title of poem on good living, after Gastrologia, title of a now-lost poem of antiquity, quoted by Athenaeus (see gastrology). Berchoux's word is from gaster "stomach" + nomos "rule, law" (see -nomy). Related: Gastronomer.