* "Oikos" means "house" or "home" – referring to the environment or dwelling place of living organisms.

* "Logos" means "study" or "discourse" – referring to the scientific study of something.

So, "ecology" literally means "the study of the home" or "the study of the environment".

The term was first coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, a German biologist. He used it to describe the relationships between living organisms and their environment, and the interactions within those relationships.