etymon

[ et-uh-mon ]
/ ˈɛt əˌmɒn /

noun, plural et·y·mons, et·y·ma [et-uh-muh] /ˈɛt ə mə/.

the linguistic form from which another form is historically derived, as the Latin cor “heart,” which is the etymon of English cordial, or the Indo-European *ḱ(e)rd-, which is the etymon of Latin cor, Greek kardía, Russian serdtse, and English heart.

Origin of etymon

1560–70; < Latin: the origin of a word < Greek étymon the essential meaning of a word seen in its origin or traced to its grammatical parts (neuter of étymos true, actual, real)

Words nearby etymon

Example sentences from the Web for etymon

British Dictionary definitions for etymon

etymon
/ (ˈɛtɪˌmɒn) /

noun plural -mons or -ma (-mə)

a form of a word or morpheme, usually the earliest recorded form or a reconstructed form, from which another word or morpheme is derived: the etymon of English "ewe" is Indo-European " * owi"

Word Origin for etymon

C16: via Latin, from Greek etumon basic meaning, from etumos true, actual