From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishetymologyet‧y‧mol‧o‧gy /ˌetəˈmɒlədʒi $ -ˈmɑː-/ noun 1 [uncountable]SL the study of the origins, history, and changing meanings of words2 [countable]SL a description of the history of a word —etymologist noun [countable] —etymological /ˌetəməˈlɒdʒɪkəl◂ $ -ˈlɑː-/ adjective —etymologically /-kli/ adverb
Examples from the Corpus
etymology• One form of this is called folk etymology.• His account of their arrival and his etymology for their name can not be trusted.• It is also rather odd, in that no etymology of it is known.• The guiding principles then of etymology and precedent would not be acceptable today.• One might wish to replace the obsolete name of a country or language with the modern name in every definition or etymology.• Looking at it another way it is perhaps a neat coupling of the word's etymology.• He has done his damnedest to supply the etymologies whenever he can, and they all ring true.• The flesh and bones of words rose again to the salvation of their etymologies.Origin etymology (1300-1400) Latin etymologia, from Greek, from etymon “original meaning”, from etymos “true” 