Frequently asked questions
- What is etymology?
- Which languages does Etymologically cover?
- Where does the information come from?
- Why doesn’t Etymologically publish original research?
- Are entries written by AI?
- What happens when dictionaries disagree about a word?
- Why does an entry say a well-known origin story is false?
- Why are some theories about a language left out?
- What does the asterisk before a word mean?
- A word I looked for has no entry. Can I request it?
- I found a mistake. How do I report it?
- Can I see how an entry has changed?
- Do I need an account?
- How do I cite an entry?
- Is Etymologically free? Who pays for it?
- Who makes Etymologically?
- Are there keyboard shortcuts?
- How can I follow new entries?
What is etymology?
Etymology is the study of where words come from: the forms a word took over time, the languages it passed through, and how its meaning changed along the way. For the methods behind it, see how etymology works.
Which languages does Etymologically cover?
English, Latin and a growing number of other languages, living and dead. English is the most complete. The languages page lists everything covered so far, grouped by family. The aim is every language: see the goal of a universal etymology dictionary.
Where does the information come from?
From published etymological dictionaries and scholarly works. Every factual statement in an entry is footnoted to the work it comes from, and the full list of works, with the entries that cite each one, is on the sources page.
Why doesn’t Etymologically publish original research?
Because it is a reference work, not a journal. Its job is to report what published scholarship says about a word, not to propose new etymologies of its own. A new etymology needs to be argued in full, tested against the evidence and examined by other specialists before it can be trusted, and the place for that is a scholarly journal or monograph, where it gets that scrutiny. A dictionary that mixed its own untested ideas in with established findings would leave readers unable to tell which was which. Keeping to published work also means every statement can be checked: each one is footnoted to the work it comes from, so a reader can follow it to the full argument. When the scholarship has no answer, the entry says the origin is unknown rather than offering a guess. If a new etymology is published and accepted by specialists, it is added, with its source.
Are entries written by AI?
Entries are drafted with the help of AI tools, but they are not generated from what an AI model learned in training, which can be unreliable and prone to inventing plausible-looking facts. Each claim is read in the source it is cited to, and the finished entry is checked against those sources before it is published. See the editorial policy.
What happens when dictionaries disagree about a word?
The entry presents each account with its source rather than silently picking one. When a word's origin is simply unknown, the entry says so instead of filling the gap.
Why does an entry say a well-known origin story is false?
Many popular stories about words, such as acronyms supposedly behind common words, are not supported by the evidence. Entries report these folk etymologies only to say whether the evidence supports them, and explain what really happened. More on why such stories spread in folk etymology and origin myths; a random debunked myth shows one at a time.
Why are some theories about a language left out?
Sources are chosen for their method. Etymologies must rest on regular sound correspondences and a plausible history, not on chance resemblances between words. Theories the field has examined and rejected, such as the claim that Hungarian derives from Sumerian, are not used. Genuine open questions among specialists are still reported. See how sources are chosen.
What does the asterisk before a word mean?
A form marked with an asterisk, like Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos, is reconstructed: it is not recorded in any text but worked out by comparing its descendants. See reconstructing proto-languages and the glossary for other terms used in entries.
A word I looked for has no entry. Can I request it?
Yes. The page of a word without an entry has a button to request it, and you can leave your email address to be told once when the entry is published. Words that entries already mention but that have no entry of their own are listed under missing entries; they are the next to be written.
I found a mistake. How do I report it?
Use the feedback form at the bottom of any page, or write to [email protected]. Corrections are made promptly and recorded in the page's public history.
Can I see how an entry has changed?
Yes. Every change to an entry is kept, and each page has a public history showing what changed, when and why. Recent changes shows the latest edits across the whole dictionary.
Do I need an account?
No. Every entry can be read without an account, and requesting a word or leaving feedback does not need one either. Accounts are only for editing. What is stored, and why, is in the privacy policy.
How do I cite an entry?
Give the word, the name of the dictionary, the page's address and the date you consulted it, for example: “wolf”, Etymologically, https://etymologically.com/en/wolf (accessed 1 March 2027). Because entries are revised, the page history lets anyone see the version you read. For the underlying scholarship, cite the works in the entry's footnotes as well.
Is Etymologically free? Who pays for it?
It is free to use. Advertising pays for the site, but advertisers have no say in what is written, and there is no paid content.
Who makes Etymologically?
It is written and edited by Bogdan Giușcă, who is responsible for the content of every entry. See who makes it.
Are there keyboard shortcuts?
Yes: / jumps to search, r opens a random word, and on a word's page j and k move to the next and previous word. The full list is on the help page.
How can I follow new entries?
Subscribe to the RSS feed, or check recent changes.