Lexic.us

Definition of Etymology

1. Noun. A history of a word.

Definition of Etymology

1. n. That branch of philological science which treats of the history of words, tracing out their origin, primitive significance, and changes of form and meaning.

Definition of Etymology

1. Noun. The study of the historical development of languages, particularly as manifested in individual words. ¹

2. Noun. An account of the origin and historical development of a word. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Etymology

1. [n -GIES]

Medical Definition of Etymology

1. Origin: L.etymologia, Gr.; etymon + discourse, description: cf. F. Etymologie. See Etymon, and -logy. 1. That branch of philological science which treats of the history of words, tracing out their origin, primitive significance, and changes of from and meaning. 2. That pert of grammar which relates to the changes in the form of the words in a language; inflection. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Etymology

Literary usage of Etymology

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The American Naturalist by American Society of Naturalists, Essex Institute (1905)
""There is in the human mind," as Max Miiller sagely observes, "a craving after etymology, a wish to find out why such a thing should be called by such a ..."

2. Notes and Queries by Martim de Albuquerque (1861)
"In favour of this derivation of the word is the negative evidence that its etymology is uncertain. But still, in our opinion, the theory looks so suspicious ..."

3. Lectures on the English Language by George Perkins Marsh (1860)
"PRACTICAL USES OF etymology. IN our last lecture, the distinction made in recent grammatical nomenclature between philology and ..."

4. Censura Literaria: Containing Titles, Abstracts, and Opinions of Old English by Egerton Brydges (1815)
"etymology of the word Entice. TO THE EDITOR OF CENSURA LITERARIA. SIR, WITH respect to the word entice, mentioned by your correspondent, although Johnson ..."

5. Words and Their Ways in English Speech by James Bradstreet Greenough, George Lyman Kittredge (1901)
"CHAPTER XXIII FOLK-etymology SYSTEMATIC etymology is a high mystery, requiring of its initiates long and painful preparation, and cultivated by its adepts ..."

6. An Analytical and Practical Grammar of the English Language by Peter Bullions (1859)
"There are three kinds of Figures; viz., of etymology, of Syntax, and of Rhetoric. ... FIGURES OF etymology. 1041. A Figure of etymology is a departure from ..."

7. Elementary Principles of Interpretation by Johann August Ernesti (1842)
"See also Jahn on the study of the original languages of the Scriptures, pp. 19, 20 and Note G. § 105. etymology an uncertain guide. ..."

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