etymology

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ĕt"ə-mŏl'ə-jē, IPA ^(key): /ˌɛt.ɪˈmɒl.ə.dʒi/, SAMPA: /%Et.I"mQl.@.dZi/
• (US) enPR: ĕt"ə-mŏl'ə-jē, IPA ^(key): /ˌɛtəˈmɑlədʒi/, SAMPA: /%Et@"mAl@dZi/

• Audio (US)

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• Hyphenation: e‧ty‧mo‧lo‧gy

Noun

Singular etymology

Plural etymologies

1. (uncountable) (linguistics) Etymology is the study of the history and change of words.
2. (countable) A word's etymology is its history.

Related words

• etymologist
• etymological
• etymologically