Etymology
Etymology
The study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.
• the origin of a word and the historical development of its meaning
Etymology
ORIGIN late Middle English:
from Old French ethimologie,
via Latin from Greek etumologia, from etumologos ‘student of etymology,’ from etumon, neuter singular of etumos ‘true.’
Oxford English Dictionary
OED
The largest dictionary of the English language, edited in Oxford, England beginning in 1884.
Words have a past
One of the most fascinating aspects of words is that they all have a past. Some words in English, for example, can be shown to have been in place for more than 5000 years, going all the way back to our oldest recoverable linguistic ancestor, Proto-Indo-European (PIE).
Our most essential words
Words like "one", "two" and other lower numerals, or words like "father", "mother" and other basic kinship terms, have existed over many millennia, virtually unchanged in their meaning.
New Words
Other words have extremely short histories. For example, the word "smog" (a blend of "smoke" and "fog") or "radar" (an acronym based on the phrase "radio detecting and ranging") are relative newcomers to the language.
Etymology
Figuring out the history of a word according to methodologically consistent principles is called the science of etymology.
An etymology spans the entire history of a word, from its beginnings right up to the present time. A complete etymology covers all aspects of a word: how its pronunciation has developed over time (e.g. the English word "ship" used to be pronounced as if it were "skip"); how its grammar has changed (e.g. the English verb "to network" did not exist as a verb 50 years ago); and its meaning (e.g. "the web" certainly meant something different to speakers ten years ago from what it means now).
Etymology is the study of the origins of words. Through old texts and comparison with
other languages, etymologists, reconstruct the history of words, when they entered a
language, from what source, and how their form and meaning changed.
Husband
ORIGIN late Old English (in the senses ‘male head of a household’ and ‘manager, steward’), from Old Norse húsbóndi ‘master of a house,’ from hús ‘house’ + bóndi ‘occupier and tiller of the soil.’ The original sense of the verb was ‘till, cultivate.’
Woman
ORIGIN Old English wīfmon, -man (see wife,man), a formation peculiar to English, the ancient word being wife.
Life
ORIGIN Old English līf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch lijf,German Leib ‘body,’ also to live1.
Hand
ORIGIN Old English hand, hond, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hand and German Hand .
Native Words
Native words are words original to a language
There was no need to borrow loaned words
And the words were never replaced
Native Words
God, gold, hand, helm, land, under, winter, word, wood, heart, tree
Werewolf
OE man --> wer --> werewolf
Writing with purpose
Native words evoke a sense of simplicity, clarity, earth
bound, and basic understanding
What do you think the ten most common words in English are?
All are native
is,the,there, and,at,yes,they,
me,I,to
Loan Words
When speakers imitate a word from a foreign language and at least partly adapt it in
sound or grammar to their native speechways, the process is known as borrowing, and
the word borrowed is a loan word.
Love
ORIGIN Old English lufu, of Germanic origin; from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit lubhyati ‘desires,’Latin libet ‘it is pleasing,’ libido ‘desire,’ also by leave2 and lief.
School
An institution for the instruction of children or people under college age.
[Middle English scole ,
from Old English scl ,
from Latin schola, scola ,
from Greek
skhol]
Teenager
No etymology
Any guesses as to why?
Compound word
Teen
1.The numbers 13 through 19.2.The 13th through 19th items in a series or scale, as
years of a century or degrees of temperature.1.A teenager. Archaic Misery; grief.
[Middle English tene, from Old English tona.]
Ager
From Age
The length of time that one has existed; duration of life
[Middle English, from Old French aage , from Vulgar Latin *aetticum , from Latin aets,
aett- , age . See aiw- in Indo-European Roots.]
PIE
Aiw
Also ayu-.
Vital force, life, long life, eternity; also ﾒendowed with the acme of vital force, young.
ever, medieval, age, and eon
Early Latin Borrowing
Early Latin borrowing consisted of words concerned with military affairs, commerce, agriculture, or refinements of living that the Germanic peoples acquired through a fairly close contact with the Romans since at least the beginning of the Christian Era.
Early Latin Borrowing
Early Latin Borrowing
Latin Old English English
Vinum Win Wine
Vallum Weall Wall
Milia Mil Mile
Schola Scol School
Psalmus Sealm Psalm
Monasterium Mynster Monastery
Crispus Crisp Curly
Celtic Loan Words
Bannuc - a bit
Bratt - cloak
Brocc - badger
Cumb - combe, valley
Torr - peak
Avon, Carlise, Cornwall, Devon, Dover, London, Usk
Why so few examples?
Scandinavian Loan Words
Scathe, scorch, score, scot, scowl, scrape, scrub, skill, skin, skirt
Gear, geld, gill, kick, kilt, kindle
Get and give - yive, yeve
Them, their, those
French Loan Words
Castle, juggler, prison, service
Government, administer, attorney, chancellor, country, court, crime
Statem jury, noble, royal
Prince, duke, marquess, viscount, baron
Army, captain, corporal, lieutenant, sergeant, soldier
Beef, mutton, pork, veal
Boil, broil,fry, roast, stew
Horrible, letter, literature, magic, sacrifice, secret, sentence, solace
Spanish Loan Words
Alligator, anchove, armadillo, avocado, barbeque, barracuda, cannibal, chocolate, roach, mosquito (little fly), silo, tango, tomato, potato, tornado, tortilla, vanilla,
Canyon, ranch, rodeo, siesta, stampede, mustang, patio, pinto, macho, albino, flamingo
Italian Loan Words
Allegro, opera, piano, presto, solo, sonata, soprano, concert, temp, trombone, altol, diva, prima donna
Artichoke, balcony, balloon, bandit, bravo, broccoli, carnival, casino, ghetto, scope, studio, torso, umbrella, volcano, mafioso, macaroni, vermicelli, spaghetti, ravioli, scampi, pizza, lasagna, al dente, linguine
German Loan Words
Delicatessen, noodle, pretzel, pumpernickel,saurkraut
Hamburger, frankfurter, weiner
Hamster, plunder, waltz, poodle,doberman pinscher, poltergeist, blitz, gesundheit
kindergarten
Yiddish and Hebrew
Phooey, shtick, klutz, beatnik, neat, Amen, cabbala, cherub, hallelujah, Jehova, Satan
Arabic
Amber, cotton, lute, mattress, orange, s, sugar, syrup, zenith ,Alchemy, algorism, almanac, Alcohol,Alcove, algebra, caliber, candy, carrot, harem, hashish, henna, lemon, magazine, sherbert, coffee
Iran and India
Bazzar, caravan ,Cummerbund - loin band, Seersucker, Khaki , Mogul, shawl, chess, check, rook, ginger, Hindi - bandanna, bungalow, cot, dinghy, dungaree, jungle, loot, pajamas, shampoo, thug, curry, mango, pariah
Far East
Chinese - silk, tea, ketchup, ginseng, kowtow,
Japan- hari-kiri, kimono, karaoke, saki, samurai, soy, judo, tycoon, kamikaze --> divine wind
Pacific islands - bamboo, gingham, launch
Polynesian - tattoo and taboo
Australian - kangaroo, boomerang, parakeets
African Languages
Banana, yam, voodoo, gorilla, juke, jazz, banjo, goober, gumbo, jigger, zombi, samba, rumba, tote, jazz
Final Work
Finally, select five words and trace their etymology and
then reflect on where they come from and what their
origins reveal about their meaning. Please us this website:
http://www.etymonline.com/