kidsneedscience:

Unlike yesterday’s word, today’s word (and field of study) does not have a wide and popular citizen fan base.  Herpetology is the study of snakes, reptiles and amphibians. The word herpetologyarrived in English via French in 1816, from Ancient Greek: ἑρπήτόν, herpeton meaning creeping animal and -λογία, -logia from the word logos meaning the study of. 

Notice the beginning of the word ἑρπήτόν:  the Ancient Greek alphabet had no letter ‘h’ so the diacritical mark over the epsilon (called a rough breathing mark) indicated the ‘h’ sound.  Ancient Greek also had a smooth breathing mark (the same diacritical mark pointing in the other direction) that indicated a vowel with no aspirating ‘h’ sound.  

Image of corn snake courtesy Linda Tanner under Creative Commons 3.0 license.  

Image of snake skeleton courtesy Chris White under Creative Commons 3.0 license.