etymology

From Middle English ethymologie, from Old French ethimologie, from Latin etymologia, from Ancient Greek ἐτυμολογία (etumología), from ἔτυμον (étumon, “true sense”) and -λογία (-logía, “study or logic of”), from λόγος (lógos, “word; explanation”).

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ĕt'ĭ-mŏlʹə-jē; IPA^(key): /ˌɛt.ɪˈmɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/
• (General American) enPR: ĕt'ə-mŏʹlə-jē; IPA^(key): /ˌɛt.əˈmɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, [ˌɛɾ.əˈmɑ.lə.d͡ʒi]

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• (General Australian) enPR: ĕt'ə-mŏlʹə-jē; IPA^(key): /ˌet.əˈmɔl.ə.d͡ʒi/, [ˌeɾ.əˈmɔl.ə.d͡ʒi]
• Hyphenation: e‧ty‧mo‧lo‧gy
• Rhymes: -ɒlədʒi

etymology (countable and uncountable, plural etymologies)

1. (uncountable, linguistics) The scientific study of the origin and evolution of a word's semantic meaning across time, including its constituent morphemes and phonemes.
2. (countable) The entire catalogue of meanings that a word, morpheme, or sign has carried throughout its history; lit. the logic of the etymon.

   Although written the same, the words lead (the metal) and lead (the verb) have totally different etymologies.

   • 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide‎, page 13:

     The etymology of the term Japlish is disputed and contentiously so.

3. (countable) An account of the origin and historical development of a word as presented in a dictionary or the like.

   Synonym: derivation

   • 2023 July 2, Talia Felix, “Homing in on Harlequin”, in Online Etymology Dictionary‎:

     Where did this name Harlequin (or Arlechin) come from? Most etymologies for the name give the Hellequin theory.

4. (countable) The direct origin of a name, as in who someone was named after.
   • 1996, The Rock:

     I'm sure you know the etymology of your name, Goodspeed.

• Not to be confused with entomology (“the study of insects”) or etiology (“the study of causes or origins”).
• Not to be confused with the origin of the object or person the word refers to.

• “etymology”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “etymology”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "etymology" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.