Phi*lol"o*gy (?), n. [L. philologia love of learning, interpretation, philology, Gr. : cf. F. philologie. See Philologer.]
1.
Criticism; grammatical learning.
[R.]
Johnson.
2.
The study of language, especially in a philosophical manner and as a science; the investigation of the laws of human speech, the relation of different tongues to one another, and historical development of languages; linguistic science.
⇒ Philology comprehends a knowledge of the etymology, or origin and combination of words; grammar, the construction of sentences, or use of words in language; criticism, the interpretation of authors, the affinities of different languages, and whatever relates to the history or present state of languages. It sometimes includes rhetoric, poetry, history, and antiquities.
3.
A treatise on the science of language.
© Webster 1913.