et·y·mol·o·gy ( t  -m l -j )n. pl. et·y·mol·o·gies 1. The origin and historical development of a linguistic form as shown by determining its basic elements, earliest known use, and changes in form and meaning, tracing its transmission from one language to another, identifying its cognates in other languages, and reconstructing its ancestral form where possible. 2. The branch of linguistics that deals with etymologies. [Middle English etimologie, from Old French ethimologie, from Medieval Latin ethimologia, from Latin etymologia, from Greek etumologi  : etumon, true sense of a word; see etymon + -logi, -logy.] |
etymology [ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒɪ]
n pl -gies
1. (Linguistics) the study of the sources and development of words and morphemes
2. (Linguistics) an account of the source and development of a word or morpheme
[via Latin from Greek etumologia; see etymon, -logy]
etymological [ˌɛtɪməˈlɒdʒɪkəl] adj
etymologically adv
etymologist n
etymology
the branch of linguistics that studies the origin and history of words. — etymologist, n. — etymologie, etymological, adj.
See also: Languagethe study of the origin and history of individual words. — etymologist, n. — etymological, adj.
See also: Linguistics
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. | etymology - a history of a word account, chronicle, history, story - a record or narrative description of past events; "a history of France"; "he gave an inaccurate account of the plot to kill the president"; "the story of exposure to lead" folk etymology - a popular but erroneous etymology |
| 2. | etymology - the study of the sources and development of words linguistics - the scientific study of language lexicostatistics - a statistical technique used in glottochronology; used to estimate how long ago different languages evolved from a common source language |
etymology
noun derivation, word history, development of words, history of words, origin of words The etymology of the word 'neon' is the Greek for 'new'.
Translations
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