Definition of Human Ecology
(noun) The social science that studies the relationship between people and their built or natural environment.
Human Ecology Pronunciation
Syllabification: hu·man e·col·o·gy
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /hyOO-muhn i-kAHl-uh-jee/
- British English – /hyOO-muhn i-kOl-uh-jee/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈhjumən iˈkɑləʤi/
- British English – /ˈhjuːmən ɪˈkɒləʤi/
Usage Notes
- Plural: human ecologies
- Not to be confused with cultural ecology.
Additional Information
- Food and Agriculture Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Ecological and Environmental Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “human” and “ecology” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Brym, Robert J., and John Lie. 2007. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Kornblum, William. 2008. Sociology in a Changing World. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).
Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Thorpe, Christopher, Chris Yuill, Mitchell Hobbs, Sarah Tomley, and Marcus Weeks. 2015. The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained. London: Dorling Kindersley.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Human Ecology
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “human ecology.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 28, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/human-ecology/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
human ecology. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/human-ecology/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “human ecology.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 28, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/human-ecology/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“human ecology.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/human-ecology/>.