The word typology literally means the study of types. Beyond this simple definition, the term has at least six distinct uses in the fields listed below:

• Typology (archaeology). Typology in archaeology is the classification of things according to their characteristics.
• Typology (anthropology). Typology in anthropology is the division of culture by race.
• Linguistics. See linguistic typology and morphological typology. Typology is a branch of linguistics which concerns itself with comparing the properties that languages have, disregarding their genetic relationships.
• Psychology. Carl Jung proposed a psychological typology based on archetypes. See Jungian archetypes. Also, Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Myers developed a typology that categorizes a person by personality types, see Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
• Sociology. Typological terms have been developed by Ferdinand Tönnies (see normal type) and Max Weber (see ideal type).
• Typology (theology). Typology in Christian theology interprets some characters and stories of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) as allegories foreshadowing the New Testament.