Word Geology – its Roots and Meanings

In the period up to 18th century the meaning of the word geology has substantially changed; from Latin word geologia written by de Bury in the 14th century, through the use of word giologia by Aldrovandi in the beginning of 17th century and to near final definition of word geology that appeared in French Encyclopaedia from 1751.With the help of Internet some other early works not known to the literature of geology history were discovered.Among them are German books where in the title word geology is also present. Works of Zaharius Grapo, JoannesSchnabel and Johann Gregorii can be listed. Short analysis of other German geological works from the second half of the 18th century important for Slovenian territory are briefly presented. Starting from the database of earlier Slovenian publications available on the Internet an analysis of word geology early appearances in Slovene language is presented. First publication of the word root geol- appeared in newspaper Slovenija in year 1849. Amongearly authors Davorin Trstenjak was first using geological information starting in year 1853. Earliest longer textpresented information on geological work in Slovene language was published in the newspaper Novice in year 1853. Based on the available literature and other sources reinterpretation of the meaning of word geology is based in the context of its role in the natural sciences development as well as its historical context.