A few days ago
Anonymous

What is an Etymology?

In my homework, they’re asking me to complete the etymology. I have no idea what that is. I looked up the definition, but I’m still not quite sure how this works.

Top 5 Answers
A few days ago
co0kiecrumbz

Favorite Answer

Where the word originates from
0

A few days ago
Anonymous
Etymology means how a word came to be, and what its roots are. In English, for example, many words came from Greek and Latin, as well as French and German more recently. If you look up a word on a dictionary site (I like dictionary.com), it will generally give you something about the etymology of a word after the definition.
0

A few days ago
Sonatina
An etymology is basically a word history.

Oftentimes, it includes prefixes and their meanings/origins, roots and their meanings/origins, and suffixes and their meanings/origins.

For example, if I were to give an etymology of the word “incredible”, I’d say that the prefix, in- comes from Latin, and means “not”, the root, from “credo” is Latin for “believe”, and the suffix “-ible”, or “able” means “ability to…”

Not all words have prefixes and suffixes, but they usually have roots. To find the roots, use a dictionary website, and they usually give you a word history.

1

A few days ago
Brother Chris
Etymology is the study of the historical and development of languages to include changes in form, meaning and how it is translated into other languages.
0

A few days ago
b4f2f
the origin of many words in English come from Latin or Greek… look up the word “federal” and you will see the root (in Latin) actually refers to faith. there was also a Federal Theology at one time which did not insist that Jesus was BOTH the son and the father – sort of confusing – but it is cool history.
0