How can I find the etymology of an English word? (2024)
Most English words have known etymologies (word histories) that linguists have established and refined over time. Tracing a word back to its earliest recoverable form often involves uncovering several chronological layers. For the immediate ancestry of an English word, however, your first stop should be the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). The recorded ancestors of an English word can usually be found within the entry for that word in the OED online [Harvard Key required] or in the print version of the OED (2nd ed., 1989).
For example, the OED entry for Modern English coast shows that this word goes back to Middle English cost (spelled several different ways), which is a borrowing from Old French coste, which in turn descends from Latin costa 'rib, flank, side.' For this word the OED gives no further etymological background.
Etymologies may run much deeper, however. For example, the OED entry for Modern English yoke 'apparatus for animals used to pull a wagon or plow' shows that this word goes back to Middle English yok (spelled several different ways), which in turn goes back to Old English geoc (again spelled several different ways), which is first recorded over a thousand years ago during the Old English (OE) period (ca. 450-1066 AD).
But the ancestry of yoke goes back even further. As the OED shows, OE geoc has cognates (related forms) in older Germanic languages that are closely related to Old English, such as Old High German (joch), Old Norse (ok) and Gothic (juk). Together these forms point to a reconstructible common ancestor or 'protoform' *juka-, which we may attribute to a prehistoric parent language that linguists call Proto-Germanic (spoken ca. 500BC).
The recoverable history of yoke runs even deeper than Proto-Germanic, however. As the OED shows, yoke has cognates elsewhere in the Indo-European language family, such as Latin jugum, Sanskrit yugá-m, and Welsh iau, among others. Together these forms point to a reconstructible common ancestor *yugó-m, which we may attribute to the prehistoric parent language of the Indo-European family, which linguists call Proto-Indo-European (spoken ca. 3500 BC).
The OED is especially useful for finding older forms of Modern English words that are recorded in Old and Middle English texts. The OED is also generally reliable in its listing of a word's cognates in Germanic and elsewhere in Indo-European. For accurate reconstructions, however, further sources should be consulted (see below).
A concise companion to the OED is C.T. Onions, ed., The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (Oxford, 1966). Reconstructions of Proto-Germanic forms found here are generally reliable.
For the immediate ancestry of an English word, however, your first stop should be the Oxford English Dictionary
the Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house.
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(OED). The recorded ancestors of an English word can usually be found within the entry for that word in the OED online [Harvard Key required] or in the print version of the OED (2nd ed., 1989).
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.
Etymology is the study of the origins of words. The English language is living and growing. Although many of our words have been part of our language for many years, new words are added all the time.
Explanation: The best tool for finding the origin of a word is a dictionary. A dictionary provides definitions, spellings, and etymologies for words. It explains the historical development of words, including their origins and how they have changed over time.
A historical or etymological dictionary shows the history of a word from its date of introduction to the present. It traces the development of various changes in interpretation and meaning. Etymologies frequently show the root word in Latin, Greek, Old English, French, etc.
It's what's left after you remove all the affixes — the prefixes like "un-" or "anti-" and suffixes such as "-able" and "-tion." With a word like "lovely," when you take away the suffix "-ly," you're left with the root word "love." Other words, like "schoolhouse" and "armchair," are made up of two root words together.
Scientists at the University of Reading have discovered that 'I', 'we', 'who' and the numbers '1', '2' and '3' are amongst the oldest words, not only in English, but across all Indo-European languages.
The Online Etymology Dictionary has been referenced by Oxford University's "Arts and Humanities Community Resource" catalog as "an excellent tool for those seeking the origins of words" and cited in the Chicago Tribune as one of the "best resources for finding just the right word".
By analyzing related languages with a technique known as the comparative method, linguists can make inferences about their shared parent language and its vocabulary. In this way, word roots in many European languages, for example, can be traced back to the origin of the Indo-European language family.
Etymonline is a free online etymology dictionary that provides information about the origins and historical development of words in English. It offers detailed explanations of word origins, meanings, and changes over time, often tracing words back to their earliest recorded usage.
For the immediate ancestry of an English word, however, your first stop should be the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). The recorded ancestors of an English word can usually be found within the entry for that word in the OED online [Harvard Key required] or in the print version of the OED (2nd ed., 1989).
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.
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.
Etymology. From Middle English example, exaumple, from Old French example, essaumple, from Latin exemplum (“sample, pattern, specimen, copy for imitation, etc.”, literally “what is taken out”); see exempt.
The verb found goes back to the Latin word fundus, meaning "bottom," which in turn led to fundāre, meaning "to lay the bottom of something." If you were to found a library, they might build a statue of you near the entrance.
From Middle English aren, from Old English earun, earon (“are”), reinforced by Old Norse plural forms in er- (displacing alternative Old English sind and bēoþ), from Proto-Germanic *arun (“(they) are”), from Proto-Germanic *esi/*izi (a form of Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti (“is”).
Introduction: My name is Nicola Considine CPA, I am a determined, witty, powerful, brainy, open, smiling, proud person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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