Etymology

teleonomy

T1E1L1E1O1N1O1M3Y4

Today it means: The quality of living organisms of seeming to be organized towards the attainment of an end. Full definition →

Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

From teleo- + -nomy. Coined by biologist Colin Pittendrigh in 1958, who wanted to limit the much older term "teleology" to actions planned by an agent who can internally model alternative futures with intention, purpose and foresight.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.