psychology

noun

sy-KO-luh-jee/saɪˈkɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/Saysy-KOL-uh-jeeUK/saɪˈkɒl.ə.d͡ʒɪ/AUS/sɑɪˈkɔl.ə.d͡ʒɪ/

Pluralpsychologies (some meanings)

4 meanings of psychology

1
noununcountable
The science that studies how the human mind works.
Like a science class, but the subject is how the mind works.
She is studying psychology at college this year.
Psychology helps us understand why people feel afraid.
2
nouncountable
The way a person or group thinks, feels, and acts.
Like a person's own special way of thinking and feeling inside.
The psychology of a young child is very different from an adult's.
Coaches study the psychology of winning teams.
Similarmentality, psyche, mindset, character
Note
3
noununcountable
The study of how people and animals act and behave.
Like watching how someone acts to learn what they might do next.
Psychology can explain why trained dogs follow commands.
In psychology, scientists watch how people react to stress.
4
nounhistoricaluncountable
An older field that studied the human soul.
Like today's study of the mind, but focused on the soul instead.
Early thinkers turned to psychology to understand the soul.
The monk studied psychology to learn about the human soul.
Note

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Origin

From French psychologie, going back to Latin, built from Ancient Greek psukhḗ meaning "soul" plus -logía meaning "study of."