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Etymology - 5 dictionary results

et⋅y⋅mol⋅o⋅gy

  [et-uh-mol-uh-jee]
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–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 -y 3

Related forms:
et⋅y⋅mo⋅log⋅i⋅cal  [et-uh-muh-loj-i-kuhl] , et⋅y⋅mo⋅log⋅ic, adjective
et⋅y⋅mo⋅log⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
et⋅y⋅mol⋅o⋅gist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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et·y·mol·o·gy   (ět'ə-mŏl'ə-jē)   
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 etumologiā : etumon, true sense of a word; see etymon + -logiā, -logy.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Etymology

Et`y*mol"o*gy\ (-j[y^]), n.; pl. Etymologies (-j[i^]z). [L. etymologia, Gr. 'etymologi`a; 'e`tymon etymon + lo`gos discourse, description: cf. F. ['e]tymologie. See Etymon, and -logy.]

1. That branch of philological science which treats of the history of words, tracing out their origin, primitive significance, and changes of form and meaning.

2. That part of grammar which relates to the changes in the form of the words in a language; inflection.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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etymology 
1398, from Gk. etymologia, from etymon "true sense" (neut. of etymos "true," related to eteos "true") + logos "word." In classical times, of meanings; later, of histories. Latinized by Cicero as veriloquium.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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etymology

the history of a word or word element, including its origins and derivation. Although the etymologizing of proper names appears in the Old Testament and Plato dealt with etymology in his dialogue Cratylus, lack of knowledge of other languages and of the historical developments that languages undergo prevented ancient writers from arriving at the proper etymologies of words

Learn more about etymology with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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