teratology

Etymology

From terato- + -logy, from Ancient Greek τέρας (téras, “monster”) + -λογία (-logía, “study of”).

noun

1. (medicine) The study of congenital malformations, their development, and people with them.
2. (toxicology) The study of the mechanisms, teratogenic agents, or teratogens, in bringing about malformations.
3. The study or cataloging of monsters.
   ...I would identify a more recent and widespread tendency to remove evil from the realm of a properly human interpretation: what I call a postmodern teratology of the sublime. 2001, Richard Kearney, The God who May be: A Hermeneutics of Religion, page 33
   Despite being productive in embodying and critiquing human problems, however, the incorporation of the cyborg into teratology overlooks one important aspect that distinguishes this cybernetic creature from the rest of the monster phylum: we are able to choose how to fabricate and use the cyborg. 2010, Dongshin Yi, A Genealogy of Cyborgothic, page 7
   In this way, this analysis has aimed at expanding gaga feminism by undertaking a critical teratology, that is, of course, the study of monsters 2014, Theresa L. Geller, Lady Gaga and Popular Music: Performing Gender, Fashion, and Culture, page 226
   Miranda Francus notes that in the West, the image of the fecund female has often been associated with monstrosity: 'misogyny and teratology have always met in the image of the maternal monster'. 2014, Maria Beville, The Unnameable Monster in Literature and Film, page 76