etymologia

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɛ.ty.mɔˈɫɔ.ɡi.a]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [e.ti.moˈlɔː.d͡ʒi.a]^[1]

Forms

etymologia f (genitive etymologiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐτυμολογία (etumología, “etymology”), from ἔτυμον (étumon, “true sense”) and λόγος (lógos, “word, account”).^[2][1][3] Cicero rendered it in Latin as veriloquium and notatio, and others used originatio.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro uses it in De lingua Latina, while Cicero still writes it in Greek letters.^[5][4][6] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It was the derivation and explanation of a word from its root, a term of grammar used by Seneca and Quintilian.^[5][4] Isidore of Seville defines it as the origin of words, when the force of a verb or noun is gathered by interpretation, and notes that Aristotle called it symbolon and Cicero adnotatio.^[8] His Etymologiae took their title from it, and British medieval writers refer to that work by its plural.^[9]

In medieval Latin it was also used of the interpretation of a name, as of the name of Jesus, and later of the investigation of a cause.^[9][7] English etymology came from Old French in the late 14th century.^[10]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[5][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes it in Greek and translates it as veriloquium.^[4][7]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it often.^[4][7]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville defines it.^[8][7]
• late 14th century – English etymology is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. etymology, the derivation of a word.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin, plural) Isidore's Etymologiae.^[9]

Related words

• English etymology

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
9. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com