etymology
[ et-uh-mol-uh-jee ]
/ ˌɛt əˈmɒl ə dʒi /
noun, plural et·y·mol·o·gies.
the derivation of a word.
a chronological account of the birth and development of a particular word or element of a word, often delineating its spread from one language to another and its evolving changes in form and meaning.
the study of historical linguistic change, especially as manifested in individual words.
Origin of etymology
SYNONYMS FOR etymology
2 word history, word lore, historical development.
historical usage of etymology
English
etymology comes via Old French
etimologie, ethimologie from Latin
etymologia (which Cicero spells in Greek letters and glosses as
veriloquium, Latin for “speaking the truth, conveying the truth”), a loan translation of the Greek
etymología “analysis of a word to discover its true meaning.”
Etymología is a compound of the neuter noun
étymon “true meaning of a word according to its origin” (a neuter noun use of the adjective
étymos “true”) and
-logía, a Greek combining form used in forming the names of sciences or bodies of knowledge.
Ancient and medieval etymologies are mostly conjectures, puns, or folk etymologies, and are generally wildly incorrect. Cicero, for instance, gives the etymology of Venus (stem Vener- ), the goddess of love, as a derivation of the verb venīre “to come” because love and desire come to all. The most famous etymological howler in Latin is Lūcus a nōn lūcendō “Grove from there being no light,” a pun on lūcus “a clearing, grove” and lūcēre “to shine.” Lūcus a nōn lūcendō first appears in a commentary on the Aeneid by Maurus Servius Honoratus, a grammarian of the late 4th and early 5th centuries.
Common English folk etymologies include cockroach for Spanish cucaracha and chaise lounge for the correct chaise longue. In the case of cockroach, you have the unfamiliar Spanish sounds assimilating with two near-sounding English words, cock and roach. The longue in chaise longue means “long,” but to English readers, looks very close in spelling to lounge, which is a logical use for a chair that is made for reclining on.
Etymology in the sense “the linguistic science that investigates the origins of a word, its relationships with words in other languages, and its historical development in form and meaning” dates from the 1640s.
Ancient and medieval etymologies are mostly conjectures, puns, or folk etymologies, and are generally wildly incorrect. Cicero, for instance, gives the etymology of Venus (stem Vener- ), the goddess of love, as a derivation of the verb venīre “to come” because love and desire come to all. The most famous etymological howler in Latin is Lūcus a nōn lūcendō “Grove from there being no light,” a pun on lūcus “a clearing, grove” and lūcēre “to shine.” Lūcus a nōn lūcendō first appears in a commentary on the Aeneid by Maurus Servius Honoratus, a grammarian of the late 4th and early 5th centuries.
Common English folk etymologies include cockroach for Spanish cucaracha and chaise lounge for the correct chaise longue. In the case of cockroach, you have the unfamiliar Spanish sounds assimilating with two near-sounding English words, cock and roach. The longue in chaise longue means “long,” but to English readers, looks very close in spelling to lounge, which is a logical use for a chair that is made for reclining on.
Etymology in the sense “the linguistic science that investigates the origins of a word, its relationships with words in other languages, and its historical development in form and meaning” dates from the 1640s.
OTHER WORDS FROM etymology
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH etymology
entomology etymologyWords nearby etymology
Example sentences from the Web for etymologic
The Prussians are by no means a chivalric race, in the etymologic sense.
An odoriferous-enough (etymologic) bouquet could we cull from the names of Flora's children.
There are two opposing influences by which all languages are affected—the etymologic and the phonetic.
Dean of Lismore's Book |VariousGutschmidt and others deny this etymologic relation of Neith to Athênê.
Ten Great Religions |James Freeman Clarke
British Dictionary definitions for etymologic
etymology
/ (ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒɪ) /
noun plural -gies
the study of the sources and development of words and morphemes
an account of the source and development of a word or morpheme
Derived forms of etymology
etymological (ˌɛtɪməˈlɒdʒɪkəl), adjective etymologically, adverb etymologist, nounWord Origin for etymology
C14: via Latin from Greek
etumologia; see
etymon,
-logy