Associations to the word «Etymology»

Wiktionary

ETYMOLOGY, noun. (uncountable) The study of the historical development of languages, particularly as manifested in individual words.
ETYMOLOGY, noun. (countable) An account of the origin and historical development of a word.

Dictionary definition

ETYMOLOGY, noun. A history of a word.
ETYMOLOGY, noun. The study of the sources and development of words.

Wise words

Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied. Even the interpretation and use of words involves a process of free creation.
Noam Chomsky