1) to ascertain, determine, trace an etymology
2) folk etymology (the professor explained the origin of a word by folk etymology)
Combinatory dictionary. 2013.
etymology — (n.) late 14c., ethimolegia facts of the origin and development of a word, from O.Fr. et(h)imologie (14c., Mod.Fr. étymologie), from L. etymologia, from Gk. etymologia, properly study of the true sense (of a word), from etymon true sense (neuter… … Etymology dictionary
etymology — 1. Etymology is the study of the history and derivation of words, and an etymology is the history of a particular word. Most dictionaries of concise size and larger give detailed accounts of a word s sources, which can be from other English words … Modern English usage
Etymology — Et y*mol o*gy ( j[y^]), n.; pl. {Etymologies} ( j[i^]z). [L.etymologia, Gr. etymologi a; e tymon etymon + lo gos discourse, description: cf. F. [ e]tymologie. See {Etymon}, and { logy}.] 1. That branch of philological science which treats of the… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
etymology — index origination Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
etymology — [n] word history derivation, development, etymon, origin, phrase history, phrase origin, root, source; concept 275 … New thesaurus
etymology — ► NOUN (pl. etymologies) ▪ an account of the origins and the developments in meaning of a word. DERIVATIVES etymological adjective etymologically adverb etymologist noun. ORIGIN Greek etumologia, from etumos true … English terms dictionary
etymology — [et΄ə mäl′əjē] n. pl. etymologies [ME & OFr ethimologie < L etymologia < Gr: see ETYMON & LOGY] 1. the origin and development of a word, affix, phrase, etc.; the tracing of a word or other form back as far as possible in its own language… … English World dictionary
Etymology — Etymologies redirects here. For the encyclopedia, see Etymologiae. For the Elvish dictionary, see The Etymologies (Tolkien). Not to be confused with Entomology or Etiology. For help writing an etymology on Wikipedia, see Template:Etymology … Wikipedia
etymology — etymological /et euh meuh loj i keuhl/, etymologic, adj. etymologically, adv. etymologist, n. /et euh mol euh jee/, n., pl. etymologies. 1. the derivation of a word. 2. an account of the history of a particular word or element of a word. 3. t … Universalium
etymology — [14] The underlying meaning of etymology is ‘finding the underlying or ‘true’ meaning of words’. Its ultimate source is Greek étumos ‘real, true’. From this was derived étumon ‘true or literal sense of a word’ (acquired by English in the 16th… … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins
