etymology
ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi
noun
Origin
Latin
etymologia — doctrine of the origin of words
Overview
Meaning Now
- the history and development of a word or element of language
- the study of word origins and historical development
Literal older meaning
“study of the true sense/origin of a word”
Language path
Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Earliest form
etimologie
Earliest period
Late Middle English
Journey
In classical scholarship, etymology originally aimed to explain a word’s “true” meaning by tracing it back to its source. Modern historical linguistics narrowed the method into the comparative study of word history and sound change.
Evolution
- 古代ギリシャ語
ἐτυμολογία
““the study of the true sense/origin of a word””
Built from ἔτυμον and -λογία.
- Latin
etymologia
“the study of word origins”
Borrowed from Greek into learned Latin usage.
- 中英語
etimologie
“the history or origin of a word”
Entered English through scholarly and learned use.
- Modern English
etymology
“the history and development of a word; the study of word origins”
Standard modern spelling and sense.
Connections
Word parts
etymo-
stem
original sense; truth in the sense of a word
-logy
suffix
study of
Related across languages
French
étymologie
word origin; study of word origins
Spanish
etimología
word origin; study of word origins
Italian
etimologia
word origin; study of word origins
German
Etymologie
word origin; study of word origins
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Related to etymology
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.