grammar

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡɹæm.ɚ/; /ˈɡɹæm.ə(ɹ)/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English gramere, borrowed from Anglo-Norman gramere, Old French gramaire, grammaire,^[2][3][4] an irregular semi-popular adoption of Latin grammatica,^[3][2] from Greek γραμματική (grammatikḗ, “the art of letters”), the feminine of grammatikós, of letters, from γράμμα (grámma, “letter, something written”),^[2][3][5] from the stem of gráphein, to write.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The study of Latin grammar: 1362 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline;^[6][3] earlier as the surname Gramaire, a grammarian or scholar (1176).^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Latin and Greek the word was much broader, covering philology and literature; its restriction to the rules of a language is post-classical.^[3] Until the 16th century it meant only Latin grammar; it was applied to English by the late 16th century, and to rules of a language that speakers must follow from the 1580s.^[3] A treatise on grammar is from the 1520s.^[3][6] In the Middle Ages learning was associated with astrology and magic, hence the secondary sense occult knowledge (late 15th century), which in Scots became glamour.^[3][7] A grammar school (late 14th century) was originally a school for learning Latin.^[3]

Timeline

• 1176 – Gramaire, a surname.^[2]
• 1362 – Latin grammar.^[6]
• late 14th century – grammar school.^[3]
• late 15th century – occult knowledge.^[3]
• 1520s – a grammar book.^[3]
• late 16th century – English grammar.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The whole system and structure of a language, especially its syntax and morphology.
2. The study of this system.
3. A person's use of the rules of grammar: poor grammar.
4. A book on grammar.
5. The basic principles of an art or science.

Word family

• grammarian
• grammarless
• case grammar
• categorial grammar
• relational grammar
• generative grammar
• grammar school
• transformational grammar

Related words

• glamour
• gramarye
• grammatical
• -gram
• graph

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press