Word of the Day - 02/02/26
etymology
/,ɛtə'mɑlədʒi/(n.): a history of a word
The etymology of 'robot' reveals its Czech origins from a play by Karel Čapek.
(n.): the study of the sources and development of words
Her passion for language led her to pursue etymology, studying how words have evolved over centuries.
Word Origin
The word "etymology" originates from Ancient Greek, specifically from "ἐτυμολογία" (etumología). This word is a compound of "ἔτυμον" (étymon), meaning "true sense" or "true meaning" (derived from "ἔτυμος" (étymos), meaning "true" or "real"), and "-λογία" (-logía), meaning "the study of" or "a branch of knowledge" (from "λόγος" (lógos), meaning "word," "reason," or "discourse"). Thus, etymology literally means "the study of the true meaning of words."
Words sharing the suffix '-logy' include biology, psychology, sociology, geology, and theology. The root 'etym-' is directly found in 'etymon', which refers to the original form of a word from which another word is derived.