etymology
The scientific study of the origin and evolution of a word's semantic meaning across time, including its constituent morphemes and phonemes.
Other meanings
The entire catalogue of meanings that a word, morpheme, or sign has carried throughout its history.
“Although written the same, the words lead (the metal) and lead (the verb) have totally different etymologies.”
An account of the origin and historical development of a word as presented in a dictionary or the like.
Related words
- etymologic
- etymologick
- etymologise
- etymologism
- etymological
- folk etymology
- global etymology
- popular etymology
- pseudoetymology
- surface etymology
Example sentences
Word history
From Ancient Greek "ἐτυμολογία".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “etymology” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.