Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible enough to be used by anyone.
Do you want to learn unusual words and old-timey slang to make conversation more interesting, or discover fascinating tidbits about the origins of everyday phrases?
"speech, talk, utterance, sentence, statement, news, report, word," from Proto-Germanic… See origin and meaning of word.
The etymologies of common words with straightforward explanations can be found in any good dictionary and, for the most part, I do not attempt to reproduce them here. Many of the words have been added as a result of questions or suggestions from readers of the site.
etymology, the history of a word or word element, including its origins and derivation. Although the etymologizing of proper names appears in the Old Testament and Plato dealt with etymology in his dialogue Cratylus, lack of knowledge of other languages and of the historical developments that languages undergo prevented ancient writers from ...
The etymology of a word refers to its origin and historical development: that is, its earliest known use, its transmission from one language to another, and its changes in form and meaning. Etymology is also the term for the branch of linguistics that studies word histories.
Based on The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, the principal authority on the origin and development of English words, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Etymology contains a wealth of information about the English language and its history.
Combining both accessibility and authority, The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins describes the origins and development of over 3,000 words and phrases in the English language.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, for native and near-native speakers of American English, includes full etymologies (or word origins), as well as dates of first written usage. To find the Collegiate etymologies, go to Merriam-Webster.com, look up the base form of nearly any word, and scroll down to Origins.
An etymology is the history of a linguistic form, such as a word; the same term is also used for the study of word histories. A dictionary etymology tells us what is known of an English word before it became the word entered in that dictionary.