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t. e. Etymology (/ ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi /, ET-im-OL-ə-jee[1]) is the scientific study of the origins of words, including the origins of their constituent units of sound and meaning (phonemes and morphemes), [2][3] as well as their changes in pronunciation and meaning across time. It is a subfield of historical linguistics, philology, and ...
Folk etymology – also known as (generative) popular etymology, [1] analogical reformation, (morphological) reanalysis and etymological reinterpretation[2] – is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one through popular usage. [3][4][5] The form or the meaning of an archaic ...
Online Etymology Dictionary. The Online Etymology Dictionary or Etymonline, sometimes abbreviated as OED (not to be confused with the Oxford English Dictionary, which the site often cites), is a free online dictionary that describes the origins of English words, written and compiled by Douglas R. Harper. [1]
The origin of the word lies with the Latin adjective niger ([ˈnɪɡɛr]), meaning "black". [2] [3] It was initially seen as a relatively neutral term, essentially synonymous with the English word negro. Early attested uses during the Atlantic slave trade (16th–19th century) often conveyed a merely patronizing attitude.
Some Greek words were borrowed into Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages. English often received these words from French. Some have remained very close to the Greek original, e.g., lamp (Latin lampas; Greek λαμπάς). In others, the phonetic and orthographic form has changed considerably.
Jesus (/ ˈ dʒ iː z ə s /) is a masculine given name derived from Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς; Iesus in Classical Latin) the Ancient Greek form of the Hebrew name Yeshua (ישוע). [1] [2] As its roots lie in the name Isho in Aramaic and Yeshua in Hebrew, it is etymologically related to another biblical name, Joshua.
The written form of the Chinese word for tea was created in the mid- Tang dynasty by modifying the character 荼 pronounced tu, meaning a "bitter vegetable". Tu was used to refer to a variety of plants in ancient China, and acquired the additional meaning of "tea" by the Han dynasty. [4] The Chinese word for tea was likely ultimately derived ...
Etymological dictionaries are the product of research in historical linguistics. For many words in any language, the etymology will be uncertain, disputed, or simply unknown. In such cases, depending on the space available, an etymological dictionary will present various suggestions and perhaps make a judgement on their likelihood, and provide ...