Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - teleology

 noun  Etymology: New Latin teleologia, from Greek tele-, telos end, purpose + -logia -logy — more at wheel  Date: 1740  1.  a. the study of evidences of design in nature  b. a doctrine (as in vitalism) that ends are immanent in nature  c. a doctrine explaining phenomena by final causes  2. the fact or character attributed to nature or natural processes of being directed toward an end or shaped by a purpose  3. the use of design or purpose as an explanation of natural phenomena  • teleologist noun