1856, from Latin glacies "ice" (probably from a suffixed form of PIE root *gel- "cold; to freeze") + -ology. Related: Glaciological; glaciologist.
Entries linking to glaciology
*gel-
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "cold; to freeze."
It forms all or part of: chill; cold; congeal; cool; gel; gelatine; gelatinous; gelato; gelid; glace; glacial; glaciate; glaciation; glacier; glaciology; glacis; jell; jelly.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Latin gelare "to freeze," gelu "frost," glacies "ice;" Old English cald "cold, cool," German kalt.
-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]