etymology English · revision 1062

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌɛtɪˈmɒləd͡ʒi/, /ˌɛtəˈmɒləd͡ʒi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ethimologie]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|fro|ethimologie]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[der|la|etymologia]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|ἐτυμολογία|tr=etumología|t=analysis of a word to find its true origin]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[grc|ἔτυμον|tr=étumon|t=true sense of a word]], the neuter of ''étumos'' “true”, and ''-logía'' “study”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Cicero rendered the Greek word in Latin as ''veriloquium''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The facts of the formation or derivation of a word (1398);^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) Etymonline dates the English word to the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In classical times the word referred to the original, “true” meaning of a word,^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) and an obsolete English sense is “original meaning” (before 1592).^(OED 1989) The sense “an account of the formation of a particular word” is recorded from 1460,^(OED 1989) and as the name of the branch of linguistics concerned with word origins it dates from 1646.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In older grammars ''etymology'' was also the part of grammar dealing with individual words and their inflections (1592).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1398 – the facts of a word's formation or derivation.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1460 – an account of the origin of a word.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1588 – the process of tracing out the elements of a word.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1592 – the part of grammar dealing with individual words.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1646 – the branch of linguistics concerned with word origins.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The origin and historical development of a word or other linguistic form, traced through its earliest use, its changes in form and meaning, its passage from one language to another, and its [[cognate|alt=cognates]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An account of the history of a particular word.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The branch of [[linguistics]] that studies the origins of words.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[etymological]]

+ * [[etymologically]]

+ * [[etymologist]]

+ * [[folk etymology]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[etymon]]

+ * [[etymologize]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Not to be confused with [[entomology]], the study of insects, or [[etiology]], the study of causes.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}