"Etymologies" redirects here. For the work by Isidore of Seville, see Entymologiae.
Not to be confused with Entomology or Etiology.
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Etymology (/ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/, ET-im-OL-ə-jee[1]) is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of a word's semantic meaning across time, including its constituent morphemes and phonemes.[2][3] It is a subfield of historical linguistics, philology, and semiotics, and draws upon comparative semantics, morphology, pragmatics, and phonetics in order to construct a comprehensive and chronological catalogue of all meanings that a morpheme, phoneme, word, or sign has carried across time.
For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts, and texts about the language, to gather knowledge about how words were used during earlier periods, how they developed in meaning and form, or when and how they entered the language. Etymologists also apply the methods of comparative linguistics to reconstruct information about forms that are too old for any direct information to be available. By analyzing related languages with a technique known as the comparative method, linguists can make inferences about their shared parent language and its vocabulary. In this way, word roots in many European languages, for example, can be traced all the way back to the origin of the Indo-European language family.
Even though etymological research originated from the philological tradition, much current etymological research is done on language families where little or no early documentation is available, such as Uralic and Austronesian.
^The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) ISBN 0-19-861263-X – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the scientific study of words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time".
^Etymology: The history of a word or word element, including its origins and derivation
Etymology (/ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/, ET-im-OL-ə-jee) is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of a word's semantic meaning across time, including its...
Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation –...
An etymological fallacy is an argument of equivocation, arguing that a word is defined by its etymology, and that its customary usage is therefore incorrect...
etymology (fake etymology or pseudo-etymology) is a false theory about the origin or derivation of a specific word or phrase. When a false etymology becomes...
Proto-Germanic *skaðwa- (meaning "shadow"). John McKinnell comments that this etymology suggests that the goddess Skaði may have once been a personification of...
The Online Etymology Dictionary or Etymonline, sometimes abbreviated as OED (not to be confused with the Oxford English Dictionary, which the site often...
English etymology is the study of where English words came from. It may refer to: History of the English language English words of Greek origin List of...
This is a list of etymological lists. List of company name etymologies List of computer term etymologies List of band name etymologies List of chemical...
1950, archived from the original on 21 July 2011, retrieved 17 July 2011 Etymology Barrow, Ian J. (2003). "From Hindustan to India: Naming change in changing...
this etymology could also explain the nickname "Egyptian black arts". However, according to Mahn, this theory may be an example of folk etymology. Assuming...
Sarajevo (/ˌsærəˈjeɪvoʊ/ SARR-ə-YAY-voh; Cyrillic: Сарајево, pronounced [sǎrajeʋo] ; see names in other languages) is the capital and largest city of Bosnia...
original on 27 April 2011. "Asia – Origin and meaning of Asia by Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017...
Argentina (an Italian adjective meaning "silvery") is ultimately derived from the Latin argentum "silver" and the feminine of the adjectival suffix -inus...
classical texts which do not necessarily have the same meaning or origin. The etymology of the term is closely linked to that of the place name Arabia. The root...
Karnataka is an Indian state. Several etymologies have been suggested for the name Karnataka. The region was popularly referred to as 'kar nata’ literally...
Chinese surname Li. Surname origins have been the subject of much folk etymology.[citation needed] In French Canada until the 19th century, several families...
This article describes the etymology of Wales, a country of the United Kingdom. The English words "Wales" and "Welsh" derive from the same Old English...
The etymology of the various Chinese words for the English word tea reflects the history of transmission of tea drinking culture and trade from China...
last, Scottish high king". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2023-10-09. Online Etymology Dictionary: "Scot" Sir Charles Oman: A History of England before the Norman...
May 2014. Evans 1982, p. 17. Room, pp. 118–119. Blackie, Geographical Etymology: A Dictionary of Place-names Giving Their Derivations, 68. Gelling, Nicolaisen...
the Surrinam spelling, 19th-century British sources offered the folk etymology Surryham, saying it was the name given to the Suriname River by Lord Willoughby...
The origin of Lahore's name is unclear. The first document that mentions Lahore by name is the Hudud al-'Alam ("The Regions of the World"), written in...
An etymological dictionary discusses the etymology of the words listed. Often, large dictionaries, such as the Oxford English Dictionary and Webster's...
and has within it connotations of the passing of the year. Alternative etymologies include Proto-Indo-European *h₃ewǵ- ("cold") or *h₂sows- ("dry"). After...
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