DictionaryAI

etymology

noun
et-uh-MOL-uh-jee/ˌɛtəˈmɑləd͡ʒi/UKet-i-MOL-uh-jee/ˌɛtɪˈmɒləd͡ʒi/

Pluraletymologies

2 meanings of etymology

Practice

  1. 1
    dictionary notenouncountable
    The origin and history of a word or name, including how its form and meaning have changed, or an account of this, as given in a dictionary.

    Each entry ends with a brief etymology tracing the word back through Old French to Latin.

    She compared three different etymologies before writing her footnote.

    UsageUsually the etymology of a word; rival accounts of one word are etymologies.

    Similarderivation, origin

    Note

    A written account of a word's history can be wrong, partial or out of date. That is why one name can have several etymologies on offer: most of those given for Harlequin favor the Hellequin theory.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Accounts of word histories can be mistaken, incomplete or superseded. en.wikipedia.org
    • A name can have competing proposed etymologies, and most accounts of Harlequin's origin give the Hellequin theory. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 2
    field of studynoununcountable
    The scientific study of the origin of words and of how their forms and meanings have changed over time, down to the sounds and parts they are made of.

    Etymology relies on regular sound changes to link English words with their relatives in other languages.

    His interest in etymology began with a battered book on English place names.

    UsageEasily confused with entomology, the study of insects.

    Note

    The discipline runs on regular sound correspondences, not on resemblance. English father and Latin pater are kin because Germanic f regularly answers an older p; look-alikes without such a pattern are often borrowings or coincidences. Its own name comes from Greek etumon, "true sense", yet the study makes the opposite point: what a word once meant does not settle what it means now.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • Regular sound correspondences, rather than superficial resemblance, provide evidence of inherited relationships. en.wikipedia.org
    • English father and Latin pater are cognates. upload.wikimedia.org
    • Germanic f regularly reflects an earlier Indo-European p. en.wikipedia.org
    • Superficial similarities without regular correspondences can result from borrowing or coincidence. en.wikipedia.org
    • Etymology ultimately derives from Greek etumon, meaning true sense. en.wiktionary.org
    • A word's historical meaning does not determine its current meaning. en.wikipedia.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of etymology apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Ancient Greek etumología was built from étumon, meaning "true sense," and -logía, meaning "study of," the latter from lógos ("word, explanation"). It passed into Latin as etymologia, into Old French as ethimologie, and into Middle English as ethymologie.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts