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154 results for: etymology

Dictionary Entries (5 more entries. View all »)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Cite This Source
et·y·mol·o·gy    Audio Help   [et-uh-mol-uh-jee] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural -gies.
1.the derivation of a word.
2.an account of the history of a particular word or element of a word.
3.the study of historical linguistic change, esp. as manifested in individual words.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L etymologia < Gk etymología, equiv. to etymológ(os) studying the true meanings and values of words (étymo(s) true (see etymon) + lógos word, reason) + -ia -y3]

—Related forms
et·y·mo·log·i·cal    Audio Help   [et-uh-muh-loj-i-kuhl] Pronunciation Key, et·y·mo·log·ic, adjective
et·y·mo·log·i·cal·ly, adverb
et·y·mol·o·gist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Thesaurus Entries
  Synonym Collection v1.1Cite This Source
Main Entry:  etymology
Part of Speech:  noun
Synonyms:  derivation, history, origin, word origin
Source:  Synonym Collection v1.1
Copyright © 2008 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC.
Encyclopedia Articles (146 more entries. View all »)
Columbia Electronic EncyclopediaCite This Source


etymology, branch of linguistics that investigates the history, development, and origin of words. It was this study that chiefly revealed the regular relations of sounds in the Indo-European languages (as described in Grimm's law) and led to the historical investigation of language in the 19th cent. In the 20th cent. linguists continued to use etymology to learn how meanings change, but they came to consider that the meaning of a form at a given time must be understood without reference to its history if it is to be understood at all. The term etymology has been replaced by the term derivation for the creation of combinations in a language, such as new nouns formed with the ending -ness. See grammar; dictionary. 
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press




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