The formal definition of “teleological” is a bit tricky to parse out, but a more easily understood explanation of the adjective is “explaining things by their purpose or end goal.” Something with a teleological function is concerned with the outcome, not the journey taken to get to the finish line. The word comes from the Green “telos,” meaning “end, purpose,” and the suffix “-logia,” meaning “theory, science.” In biology, the study of teleology is conducted by looking at the end result to explain certain phenomena.