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linguistics

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks/[1]
  • US: /liŋˈɡwɪstɪks/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English linguistic + -ics.[2][3][4][5] Linguistic is from linguist and -ic,[2][4] and linguist from Latin lingua (“tongue, language”) and -ist.[4] The OED compares German Linguistik (1778) and French linguistique (1809), which probably lie behind the earlier noun linguistic (1825), and Italian linguistica (1837).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The scientific study of language and its structure: 1837, in the North American Review.[2][6] Etymonline dates it to 1847,[4] and Dictionary.com to 1850–55.[5]

Semantic evolution

The science had earlier names: linguistry (1794), logonomy (1803) and comparative philology (1822).[4][2] The noun linguistic was used in the same sense from 1825.[2] In 1836 an American writer noted that some German authors called the science of comparing languages Linguistic, but that the term was not generally adopted.[4] Since then linguistics has also become a subject of study and examination,[2] and has many branches, such as historical, applied and structural linguistics, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics.[3][7]

Timeline

  • 1794 – linguistry, an earlier name.[4]
  • 1822 – comparative philology.[4]
  • 1825 – linguistic, noun, the science of language.[2]
  • 1837 – linguistics.[2][6]
  • 1847 – Etymonline's first date.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The scientific study of language and its structure, including phonetics, grammar and semantics; also, this as a school or university subject.[7][6][2]

Word family

  • biolinguistics
  • ethnolinguistics
  • macrolinguistics
  • metalinguistics
  • neolinguistics
  • neurolinguistics
  • paralinguistics

Usage notes

It takes a singular verb: linguistics is….[7] Merriam-Webster contrasts it with philology.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins