etymology

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etymology

/ˌɛtɪˈmɒləd͡ʒi/ UK
/ˌɛtɪˈmɔləd͡ʒɪj/ British, Southern, Standard
/ˌɛtəˈmɒləd͡ʒi/ Canada
[ˌɛɾəˈmɒləd͡ʒi] Canada
/ˌɛtəˈmɑləd͡ʒi/ US
[ˌɛɾəˈmɑləd͡ʒi] US
/ˌetəˈmɔləd͡ʒi/ Australia, New Zealand
[ˌeɾəˈmɔləd͡ʒi] Australia, New Zealand
/ˌetɪˈmɒləd͡ʒi/ India
[ˌeʈɪˈmɔləd͡ʒi] India
[ˌeʈɪˈmaləd͡ʒi] India
/ˌetəˈmɑləd͡ʒi/ General South African
[ˌetɘˈmɑləd͡ʒi] General South African

Rhymes with -ɒlədʒi

Where it comes from

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”). By surface analysis, etymo- + -logy.

noun etymologies

uncountable The scientific study of the origin and evolution of a word's semantic meaning across time, including its constituent morphemes and phonemes. Holonyms: historical linguistics < linguistics
countable The entire catalogue of meanings that a word, morpheme, or sign has carried throughout its history. Although written the same, the words lead (the metal) and lead (the verb) have totally different etymologies.
countable An account of the origin and historical development of a word as presented in a dictionary or the like. Etymologies appeal to people with a very wide variety of interests and intellectual backgrounds. A very few people, such as myself, spend most of their time researching etymologies. A slightly larger number do so very occasionally. Many, many more people look at etymologies, but have never researche
Similar: derivation
countable The direct origin of a name, as in who someone was named after. I'm sure you know the etymology of your name, Goodspeed.

Translations

Every language

noun study of the historical development of languages, particularly of individual words

Español	etimología
한국어	어원학 eowonhak, 어원 eowon
日本語	語源学 gogengaku
中文	語源學 /语源学 yǔyuánxué, 詞源學 /词源学 cíyuánxué
हिन्दी	व्युत्पत्ति vyutpatti, व्युत्पत्तिशास्त्र vyutpattiśāstra, निरुक्त nirukt, सर्फ़ sarf, इश्तिक़ाक़ iśtiqāq, इश्तिक़ाक़ियात iśtiqāqiyāt
Kiswahili	etimolojia
Português	etimologia
Français	étymologie
Deutsch	Etymologie
Italiano	etimologia
Ελληνικά	ετυμολογία etymología
Română	etimologie
Русский	этимоло́гия etimológija
Tiếng Việt	từ nguyên học, từ nguyên
العربية	تَأْثِيل taʔṯīl, عِلْم تَأْثِيل ʕilm taʔṯīl
עברית	אֵטִימוֹלוֹגְיָה etimológya, גִּזָּרוֹן gizarón

noun account of the origin and historical development of a word

Español	etimología
한국어	어원 eowon
日本語	語源 gogen
中文	詞源 /词源 cíyuán, 語源 /语源 yǔyuán, 字源 zìyuán, 詞根 /词根 cígēn
हिन्दी	व्युत्पत्ति vyutpatti, व्युत्पत्तिशास्त्र vyutpattiśāstra, निरुक्त nirukt, सर्फ़ sarf, इश्तिक़ाक़ iśtiqāq, इश्तिक़ाक़ियात iśtiqāqiyāt
Português	etimologia
Français	étymologie
Deutsch	Etymologie, Herkunft, Wortherkunft
Italiano	etimologia
Ελληνικά	ετυμολογία etymología
Română	etimologie
Русский	этимоло́гия etimológija
Tiếng Việt	từ nguyên
العربية	اِشْتِقَاق ištiqāq, تَأْثِيل taʔṯīl
עברית	גִּזָּרוֹן gizarón

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Cite this

MLA

"etymology." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/etymology. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

etymology. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/etymology

Chicago

"etymology." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/etymology.

BibTeX

@misc{etymology_2026,
  title = {etymology},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/etymology},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}