folk etymology (redirected from Folk etymologies)

folk etymology

n.

Change in the form of a word or phrase resulting from a mistaken assumption about its composition or meaning, as in shamefaced for earlier shamfast, "bound by shame," or cutlet from French côtelette, "little rib."

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folk etymology

Noun

the gradual change in the form of a word through the influence of a more familiar word, as for example crayfish from its Middle English form crevis

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folk etymology

the reanalysis of a word by native speakers into a new element or elements, e.g. hamburger (properly ‘from Hamburg’) being split into ham- and -burger; and the subsequent combination of -burger with a number of words in which it is used to mean ‘ground patty.’

See also: Linguistics

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

folk etymology - a popular but erroneous etymology etymology - a history of a word