Etymology Definition
ĕtə-mŏlə-jē
etymologies
noun
The origin and development of a word, affix, phrase, etc.; the tracing of a word or other form back as far as possible in its own language and to its source in contemporary or earlier languages.
Webster's New World
The branch of linguistics dealing with word origin and development.
Webster's New World
The definition of etymology is the source of a word, or the study of the source of specific words.
An example of etymology is tracing a word back to its Latin roots.
YourDictionary
For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
- word origin
- origin
- history
- derivation
- onomastics
- philology
- historical-linguistics
- development of vocabulary
- word history
- word origins
Other Word Forms of Etymology
Noun
Singular:
etymology
Plural:
etymologiesOrigin of Etymology
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Middle English etimologie from Old French ethimologie from Medieval Latin ethimologia from Latin etymologia from Greek etumologiā etumon true sense of a word etymon -logiā -logy
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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From Middle English etimologie, from Old French ethimologie, from Latin etymologia, from Ancient Greek ἐτυμολογία (etumologia), from ἔτυμον (etumon, “true sense”) and -λογία (-logia, “study of”) (from λόγος (logos)).
From Wiktionary
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