etymology (English)
Where does "etymology" come from?
The English word etymology traces its roots back to Ancient Greek 'ἐτυμολογία', which combined 'ἔτυμον' meaning 'true sense' with '-λογία' meaning 'study or logic of'[1]. This Greek term passed into Latin as 'etymologia'[1], and subsequently into Old French as 'ethimologie'[1][3]. Borrowed into Middle English as 'ethymologie'[1][5], the word finally evolved into its current English form to designate the scientific study of word origins and historical meanings.
Open questions
- The Ancient Greek form 'ἐτεός' is suggested by Beekes to possibly derive from a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form '*set-'. [11]
- The Ancient Greek word 'λόγος' derives from Proto-Hellenic '*lógos', which originates from the Proto-Indo-European root '*leǵ-'. [10]
Full etymology tree
- etymology (English), 'The scientific study of the origin and evolution of a word's semantic meaning across time, including its constituent morphemes and phonemes.'
- inherited ethymologie (Middle English), 'The study of such senses.'
- borrowed ethimologie (Old French), 'etymology'
- borrowed etymologia (Latin), 'etymology'
- borrowed ἐτυμολογία (etumología) (Ancient Greek), 'etymology'
- derived ἐτυμόλογος (etŭmólogos) (Ancient Greek), 'studying etymology'
- compound ἔτυμος (étumos) (Ancient Greek), 'true, real, sure'
- derived ἐτεός (eteós) (Ancient Greek), 'in accordance with reality or one's honest perception of it: true, genuine'
- derived *set- (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived ἐτεός (eteós) (Ancient Greek), 'in accordance with reality or one's honest perception of it: true, genuine'
- compound -λογος (-logos) (Ancient Greek), 'combining form of λόγος (lógos, “word, speech”)'
- derived λόγος (lógos) (Ancient Greek), 'that which is said: word, sentence, speech, story, debate, utterance, argument'
- inherited *lógos (Proto-Hellenic)
- inherited *leǵ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to speak by carefully selecting one's words.'
- inherited *lógos (Proto-Hellenic)
- derived λόγος (lógos) (Ancient Greek), 'that which is said: word, sentence, speech, story, debate, utterance, argument'
- compound ἔτυμος (étumos) (Ancient Greek), 'true, real, sure'
- suffix -ία (-ía) (Ancient Greek), 'Added to stems of adjectives, rarely to the stems of verbs, and even more rarely to the stems of nouns, to form feminine abstract nouns'
- derived ἐτυμόλογος (etŭmólogos) (Ancient Greek), 'studying etymology'
- borrowed ἐτυμολογία (etumología) (Ancient Greek), 'etymology'
- borrowed etymologia (Latin), 'etymology'
- borrowed ethimologie (Old French), 'etymology'
- inherited ethymologie (Middle English), 'The study of such senses.'
Ancestors
- ethymologie (Middle English)
- ethimologie (Old French)
- etymologia (Latin)
- ἐτυμολογία (Ancient Greek)
Descendants and derived words
- etymologic (English)
- etymological (English)
- etymologick (English)
- etymologise (English)
- etymologism (English)
- folk etymology (English)
- global etymology (English)
- popular etymology (English)
- pseudoetymology (English)
- surface etymology (English)
Sources
- etymology (English) - Wiktionary
- etymologia (Latin) - Wiktionary
- ethimologie (Old French) - Wiktionary
- ἐτυμολογία (etumología) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- ethymologie (Middle English) - Wiktionary
- ἰά (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- ἐτυμόλογος (etŭmólogos) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- ἔτυμος (étumos) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- ἔτυμον (étumon) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- λόγος (lógos) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- ἐτεός (eteós) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
Updated October 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris