Meanings
comparative more teleological · superlative most teleological
- Of or pertaining to teleology; showing evidence of design or purpose.
It will be seen that this doctrine is optimistic and teleological: the universe and everything in it is developing towards something continually better than what went before.
1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.191 more example
Do I believe in God? I'm what you would call a teleological, existential atheist. I believe that there's an intelligence to the universe, with the exception of certain parts of New Jersey.
1973, Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman, Sleeper, spoken by Miles Monroe (Woody Allen)
Origin
- Englishteleology
- Englishteleologic
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englishteleological
From teleologic + -al.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic غَائِيّ
- غَائِيّ (ḡāʔiyy)pertaining to teleology
Catalan teleològic
- teleològicpertaining to teleology
Dutch teleologisch
- teleologischpertaining to teleology
French téléologique
- téléologiquepertaining to teleology
Irish teileolaíoch
- teileolaíochpertaining to teleology
Italian teleologico
- teleologicopertaining to teleology
Persian غایی
- غایی (ġâyi)pertaining to teleology
Polish teleologiczny
- teleologicznypertaining to teleology
Portuguese teleológico
- teleológicopertaining to teleology
Romanian teleologic
- teleologicpertaining to teleology
Spanish teleológico
- teleológicopertaining to teleology
Swedish teleologisk
- teleologiskpertaining to teleology
Turkish erek bilimsel, teleolojik
- erek bilimselpertaining to teleology
- teleolojikpertaining to teleology
Cite this entry
teleological. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/teleological
“teleological.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/teleological. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “teleological,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/teleological.
Source: teleological on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.