etymology, n.
Forms:
lME ethimilogie, lME ethimilogye, lME–15 ethimologie, lME–15 ethymologie, lME–15 ethymologye, lME– etymology, 15 ethimology, 15 etimelogie, 15 etimolagies (plural), 15–16 aetymologie, 15–16 etimoligie, 15–16 etimologie, 15–16 etimology, 15–16 etimologye, 15–16 etymoligy, 15–16 etymologie, 15–16 etymologye, 15– ethymology (now rare), 16 etimoligy, 16 etimolygie, 16 etymolegy, 16 etymoligie; N.E.D. (1891) also records a form lME ethymology. (Show Less)
Etymology:
< (i) Middle French ethimologie, ethymologie (French etymologie) established account of the origin of a given word, explaining its composition (2nd half of the 12th cent. in Old French; frequently from early 16th cent.), interpretation of a word, that which is revealed by such interpretation (c1337), the branch of linguistics concerned with determining of the origins of words (1622 in the passage translated in quot. 1630 at sense 5, or earlier), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin etymologia (in post-classical Latin also aethimologia , ethimologia , ethymologia ) interpretation and explanation of a word on the basis of its origin < Hellenistic Greek ἐτυμολογία , probably < Byzantine Greek ἐτυμολόγος (although this is apparently first attested later: see etymologer n.) + -ία -y suffix3; on the semantic motivation for the Greek word see etymon n. and discussion at that entry. Compare Catalan etimologia (14th cent.), Spanish etimología (a1452), Portuguese etimologia (14th cent.), Italian etimologia (13th cent.).
The unassimilated Latin form is attested (in various senses) in an English context from an early date; compare: The Latin word is also attested early in an English context in the title of the influential work by Isidore of Seville Etymologiarum vel Originum Libri XX (often referred to simply as Etymologiae (or Origines); compare also quots. a1464, a1475 at sense 2b):In sense 2a(a) influenced by awareness of the etymological connection with ancient Greek ἔτυμος true, and related words (see etymon n. and discussion at that entry); compare also classical Latin veriloquium (see veriloquous adj.), by which Cicero translates Hellenistic Greek ἐτυμολογία.
OE Ælfric Gram.
(St. John's Oxf.)
293
Sum þæra [sc. divisions of the art of grammar] hatte ethimologia, þæt is namena ordfruma and gescead, hwi hi swa gehatene sind.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum
(BL Add. 27944)
(1975)
I. iii. ii. 91
What is þe menyng of þe ethimolegia and þe settinge of þis name anima?
1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum xv. c. f. 234v,
Mesopotamia hath Etimologia of Greeke, for it is inuironed with two riuers, Tigris in the East, and Euphrates in the West.
1696 W. T. Lily, Improved 46
How many Parts of Grammar are there?..There are Four, Orthographia, Etymolegia, Syntaxis, Prosodia.
OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion
(Ashm.)
(1995)
iii. iii. 178
Gyf hwylcum frynd lyste ma þinga asmeagan ymbe þissum hiwum, þonne ræde he Isidorus boc þe ys Ethimolegiarum genemned.
OE Rec. Gifts of Bp. Leofric to Exeter Cathedral
(Bodl.)
in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters
(1956)
228
Þus fela ledenboca he beget innto þam mynstre, liber pastoralis..onsundron & liber Isidori ethimolagiarum.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron.
(St. John's Cambr.)
(1872)
IV. 257
Isodorus, in þe cronike of his fifte book Ethymologiarum, overlepeþ Ptholomeus Philometor.
1. The facts relating to the origin of a particular word or the historical development of its form and meaning; the origin of a particular word.fig. in quot. 1864.
▸a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum
(BL Add. 27944)
(1975)
II. xvi. xcii. 873
Tyn hatte stagnum..and haþ þat name of ethymologye of grew.
1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints l. 1566 (MED),
Yf we hem dewly kun applye And ordenelly aftyr the ethimologye.
1581 J. Marbeck Bk. Notes & Common Places 276
Dagon..as maie be iudged by the Etimologie of the word, was some God of the Sea. For Dag in Hebrue signifieth a fish.
1583 W. Fulke Def. Transl. Script. vi. 186
The etymologie of this English worde Priest, cometh from Presbyter.
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 683
Heralt..is meerely a Teutonic or Duytch word, and in that tongue and no other, the true Ætymologie thereof is onely to be found.
1651 J. Howell S.P.Q.V. 34
Som derive the Etimologie of this rare Cittie from Venetia, which is old Latin signifieth the frothing or seething of the Sea.
1666 G. Harvey Morbus Anglicus ii. 7
[Consumption] is generally taken for any kind of universal diminution (lessening) and colliquation (melting) of the body, which acceptation its Etymology..implyes.
1725 I. Watts Logick i. iv. §1
If the meaning of a word could be learned by its derivation or etymology, yet, etc.
1756 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. I. 141
Nostalgia, which in its etymology signifies a pain from long being denied a return into one's own country, is a word more known than Pathopatridalgia.
1814 E. Ogborne Hist. Essex 242
Others derive the etymology [of Chigwell] from weald, a wood.
1864 J. F. Kirk Hist. Charles the Bold I. ii. 48
Those distinctions of origin, habits, dialect, and history which constitute what may be termed the etymology of the nation.
1865 F. Max Müller in Times 20 Apr. 6/6
The etymology of a word can never give us its definition.
1906 G. McAleer
(title)
A study in the etymology of the Indian place name Missisquoi.
1984 T. S. Lebra Japanese Women
(1985)
14
The local term..is kābō, but no informant is sure of its etymology.
2010 A. Potter Authenticity Hoax i. 49
The very idea of what it means to be sick (and lurking in the etymology of the word dis-ease) is that something is not right.
a1398—2010(Hide quotations)
2.
a.
(a) The process or practice of tracing the origin of a word so as to explain what is considered to be its true literal meaning. hist. and rare in later use.The idea that a word's origin conveys its true meaning (cf. discussion at etymon n.) has become progressively discredited since the 18th cent. with the increased study of etymology as a linguistic science (see sense 5). It is now sometimes referred to as the etymological fallacy.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine 2 (MED),
Ethimilogie is cleped in gramer þe trewe exposicion of a word.
1550 R. Sherry Treat. Schemes & Tropes sig. Cvii,
By Etymologie or shewyng the reason of the name. Well maye he be called a parasite, for a parasite is ye loueth other because of his meat.
1568 E. Dering Sparing Restraint ii. 19,
I might be an open minister among the Gentiles, and this is proued by the Etimologie, or true explication of the word.
1574 tr. P. Ramus Logike xxiii. 51
The Etimologie is the interpretation of a worde.
1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet.
Etymologie, true expounding.
1681 in S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Remaining Med. Wks. Table,
Etymology, the true exposition or interpretation of a thing.
1887 F. Garlanda Fortunes of Words i. 5
‘Etymology’ means exactly the exposition or explanation of the true meaning of words (etymos, true); but we have bent it to mean the ‘origin of words’.
1933 L. Bloomfield Lang. i. 4
The Analogists believed that the origin and the true meaning of words could be traced in their shape; the investigation of this they called etymology.
c1450—1933(Hide quotations)
(b) The process or practice of investigating the origin of a word or the historical development of its form and meaning.
1725 I. Watts Logick i. iv. §1
This tracing of a word to its original, (which is called etymology), is sometimes a very precarious..thing.
1786 J. H. Tooke Επεα Πτεροεντα ix. 491
The explanation and etymology of these words require a degree of knowledge in all the antient northern languages.
a1841 W. G. Clark Lit. Remains
(1844)
410
The editor of the London Examiner.., after some study of Mr. Ker's glossaries, felt himself au fait at his system of etymology.
1850 J. A. Alexander Psalms II. 251
The word translated highways is determined, both by etymology and usage, to denote..a road artificially constructed and raised above the level of the ground.
1972 Alcalde May 9/3,
I found Jim..conversing quietly with the Mexican waitress on etymology, comparing the relationship between Spanish and English.
1995 S. Ungar Scandal & Aftereffect v. 127
Blanchot wrote that the disaster was a break with the star—broken down via etymology into désastre.
1725—1995(Hide quotations)
b. An instance of this; an account of the origin of a word or the historical development of its form and meaning.folk, popular etymology: see the first element.
[a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron.
(Cambr. Gg.4.12)
(1983)
29
As Ysider tellith in þe third book of Ethimilogies.
a1475
(▸a1447)
O. Bokenham Mappula Angliae in Englische Studien
(1887)
10 7 (MED),
As Ysidore seithe in his XIIII boke of his ethymologies.]
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 204
So that the Etymologie of the name proceedeth all vpon one cause.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. v. ii. 159/2
Neither let this Etymologie of Britains seeme to be either harsh or absurd, seeing the very words sound alike, [etc.].
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. v. i. sig. Ii7,
Critical Inquiries into Obsolete Rites, or Disputable Etymologies.
1755 Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Pref.,
For the Teutonick etymologies I am commonly indebted to Junius and Skinner.
1770 G. Baretti Journey London to Genoa II. 148
Gavacho is an injurious appellation bestowed on the French by the Spanish vulgar. I know of no satisfactory etymology of this word.
1845 Encycl. Metrop.
(1847)
I. 166/1
A little investigation will show this etymology [of since] to be entirely erroneous.
1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. 69,
I put aside the question as to the correctness of Mr. Ruskin's etymologies.
1939 Amer. Jrnl. Philol. 60 465
We cannot as yet give satisfactory etymologies of words with prevocalic initial s- in Macedonian.
1972 Regional Lang. Stud.-Newfoundland iv. 1
The natural reaction of any Algonkianist confronted with such an etymology would be the immediate raising of eyebrows.
2001 E. McKean Verbatim 88
He gives other etymologies, probably more correct, but to my mind not nearly as delightful.
1575—2001(Hide quotations)
3. Grammar. A branch of grammar which deals with the formation and inflection of individual words and their different parts of speech. Now hist.
c1475 Court of Sapience
(Trin. Cambr.)
(1927)
l. 1810 (MED),
Wyth Gramer was foure ladyes..Dame Ortography..gentyll Etymology, Diasintastica, and Prosody.
1567 R. Mulcaster tr. J. Fortescue Learned Commendation Lawes Eng. f. 23v,
Vntoo the perfection of grammer springinge out of Etimologie [L. ethimologia], Orthographie, Prosodie, & Construction as out of .iiii. fountaines, you haue not exactlye attayned.
1592 W. West Symbolæogr.: 1st Pt. §100
The rules of Grammar, touching eyther the Ætymologie or Syntaxis thereof.
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. ix. 127
For the Etymologie; al the difficulty is in these three parts of speech, Nounes, Verbs, and Participles.
1669 Milton Accedence 1
Etymologie, or Right-wording, teacheth what belongs to every single word or part of Speech.
1749 D. Hartley Observ. Man i. iii. 304
Etymology and Syntax, as Grammarians call them.
1792 J. Cook Westm. Spelling-bk. II. 122
Etymology treats of Words, as various parts of Speech.
1852 C. M. Kirkland Evening Bk. 284
He knew a good deal more of ‘orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody,’ than his lecturers.
1912 School Rev. Apr. 257
Without Greek the Latinist is utterly unable to explain or appreciate numberless points of etymology, syntax, and inflection.
2001 A. Oliver in R. Gaskin Gram. Early 20th Cent. Philos. v. 151
During the 1800s, syntax evolved away from the classifications found in etymology (parts of speech) towards more functional categories.
c1475—2001(Hide quotations)
4. The etymological sense of a word; the literal meaning of a word's etymon.
?1548 A. Gilby Answer Deuillish Detection S. Gardiner f. clxxiii,
Thy name shalbe Israell that is to saye, one that hath myghtilye preuayled against God and men, for this is the true Etimologie of the worde Israel.
a1592 R. Greene Sc. Hist. Iames IV
(1598)
i. sig. C2v,
Ateu. Whats thy name? Nano. Nano. Ateu. The etimologie of which word, is a dwarfe.
1631 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentlewoman 110
This name [sc. the word widowes]..hath receiued one consonant Etimology; depriued or destitute.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 470
Pelvis being used by several of the Ancient Comick Writers for a Looking-Glass, by which means the Etymology of the Word is very visible.
1750 W. Skurray tr. N. M. Venuti Descr. Heraclea i. i. 2
Hercules was however his Name, the Etymology of which, is the Glory of the Goddess Juno.
1820 Literary Gaz. 30 Sept. 629/3
The etymology of muselman is, a man of peace.
1837 A. Campbell & J. B. Purcell Deb. Rom. Catholic Relig. 109
The word catholic, in its Greek etymology, means universal.
1903 Sussex Archæol. Coll. 46 195
Mr. Lower..gives the etymology [of Lyminster] as ‘"Leonis monasterium", the convent of St. Leo’.
1979 W. Dyrness Themes in Old Test. Theol. ii. 51
The etymology of the Hebrew word is ‘to cut off’ or ‘mark off’.
2005 S. J. Binz Jerusalem, Holy City i. 2
The etymology is ‘foundation of Shalem’, the Canaanite patron god of the city.
?1548—2005(Hide quotations)
5. The branch of linguistics which deals with determining the origin of words and the historical development of their form and meanings.In its fullest form, etymology is normally understood as comprising the investigation of a word's origin, its relationships (if any) with words in other languages, and its historical development in both form and meaning. It is often understood as referring especially to those areas in a word's history where hypothesis is necessary in the face of incomplete or ambiguous historical data. With early use cf. also senses 2a(a), 3.
1630 E. Cary tr. J. D. Du Perron Reply to Answeare of King 166
The word Suburbicary being deriued as Grammar teacheth vs, from the word vrbs, the lawes of Etimology [Fr. les loix de l'Etymologie] will, that the varietie of the significations, should be ruled according to the difference of the acceptions of the word vrbs the primitiue.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica ii. vi. 93
Others have better observed the laws of Etymology, and deduced it from a word of the same language.
1728 N. Salmon New Surv. Eng.: Pt. II 118
All I have to ask at present of the Adept in Etymology, is, that they will determine which is the most natural and unforced Derivation of Sulloniacis.
1797 W. Godwin Enquirer i. vi. 44
The science of etymology has been earnestly recommended.
1825 ‘P. Ponder’ Noctes Atticæ 144
Etymology. This uncertain study seems, unfortunately, a great favourite with minor scholars and everyday wits.
1862 G. P. Marsh Lect. Eng. Lang.
(new ed.)
iii. 48
Etymology, is the study of the primitive, derivative, and figurative forms and meanings of words.
1917 E. H. Sturtevant Ling. Change iv. 98
Etymology is a valuable study, but we should not expect it to help us very much in understanding our mother-tongue.
1987 L. Stryk in V. Clemente J. Ciardi 117
His was a classical mind—how clear that was to become when he turned, with such success, to etymology.
2006 G. Hughes Encycl. Swearing 178
The relationship between etymology and folk etymology is similar to that between astronomy and astrology.
1630—2006(Hide quotations)
