etymology

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the study of the origins and historical development of words

   Her interest in etymology began when she traced several legal terms back to Latin.

2. 2
   noun

   the origin and development of a particular word or expression

   The dictionary gives the etymology of candid from a Latin word meaning white.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Etymology came through French and Latin from Greek etymologia, based on etymon, “the truth.” It originally referred to discovering a word’s true or essential meaning, reflecting an ancient belief that a word’s earliest form revealed something fundamental; it later narrowed to the study of word origins.

From Middle English ethymologie, through Old French ethimologie and Latin etymologia, from Ancient Greek etumologia. The Greek formation combines etumon ("a word's true sense") with -logia ("study, account"), giving the literal idea of an account of a word's true origin.

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary