How to Study the Etymology of Words

Co-authored by Katherine Demby

Last Updated: March 9, 2024 Fact Checked

The origin of the meaning and sound of words (etymology) is a fascinating and rewarding subject. The previous sentence alone has words of Latin, Greek, Anglo-Saxon, and Germanic origins! Investigating the linguistic root and history of a word can be an enjoyable pastime or a full-fledged profession that’ll help you understand why we say the things we do and why we say them in the way we do. It can also improve your vocabulary, enhance your spelling, and give you lots of fun facts to share that’ll impress your friends and colleagues.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Getting to Know the Basics

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1
Find a good etymological dictionary. To start informally studying etymology, buy or gain access to an authoritative dictionary that includes the linguistic origins of words in its definitions. The easiest way to tell that it does is if it has, “etymological” in the title. However, it may still include etymologies even if it does not include this in the title. Check a definition to see if there is a section labeled “origin” or “etymology.”^{[1]
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Katherine Demby
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Expert Interview. 17 December 2020.}
- The most respected print dictionaries for English’s etymology include An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, and The Oxford English Dictionary. The last also has an online subscription option.
- There is also a free, well-researched online dictionary that’s specifically dedicated to etymology, available here: https://www.etymonline.com/
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Look for the roots. Etymologies seek the earliest origin of a word by tracing it back to its most basic components, that is, the simple words that were combined to create it in the first place. When you know the roots of a word, you can better understand how we arrived at the sound and meaning for the word that exist today.^{[2]
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Katherine Demby
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Expert Interview. 17 December 2020.}
- For instance, the word “etymology” itself has Greek roots: “etymos,” which means, “true sense,” and “logia,” which means, “study of.”^{[3]
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- Besides helping you to understand the origin of a word, knowing its roots can help you understand other words with similar roots. In the case of “etymology,” you’ll note that the root “logia,” which means “the study of,” appears in multiple other places in modern English, from “biology” to “astrology.”^{[4]
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- Take note of any patterns you find, particularly if you’re working with the etymologies of multiple words. This will help streamline your studies.
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3
Trace the word’s journey into English. Etymology traces not only the word’s origins but also how its meanings and spellings have developed over time. Sometimes that means that a word has traveled through more than one language on its journey into modern English.^{[5]
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- Etymological dictionaries will usually present this trajectory in reverse-chronological order, starting with the most recent usage and showing where each iteration came from in turn.
- If we return to the word “etymology,” it entered into Old English as ethimolegia ("facts of the origin and development of a word"), from Old French etimologie, ethimologie, from Latin etymologia, from Greek etymologia ("analysis of a word to find its true origin"). So, it appeared in the written record of 3 languages (Greek, Latin, and French) before it entered into English.
4
Understand the dates. Most etymologies will include dates in their origins of words. These represent the first time a particular word appeared in a document written in English. (Keep in mind that a word may well have existed in spoken English a long time before that, but this is the date of the first written record of it that has survived.)^{[6]
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- For example, “etymology” entered English in the 14th century but did not take on its modern spelling and definition until the 1640s.^{[7]
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Check the examples and sources. Thorough etymological dictionaries will often include documentary sources for each iteration of a word and/or examples of how a word has been used in context over time, usually through a phrase or sentence from a written document in English. This provides concrete historical evidence for the word’s origins while giving you insight into how its meaning has changed.
- For instance, the word “queen” comes from the Middle English “quene,” which can be seen in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and the Old English “cwen,” which appears in Beowulf.^{[8]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Practicing with Words

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1
Look up words you’re curious about. Now that you know what to look for, start studying the etymology of those words that make you wonder, “Where did this come from?” It’s an entertaining way to get to know the historical meaning behind the things you say, and you’ll often be surprised about where they come from.
- It’s also edifying to look up those words that seem so normal that you’ve taken their origins for granted. For instance, if you study the etymology of a familiar word like “nostril,” you’ll find that it comes from Old English “nosu” (nose) and “pyrel” or “thrill” (hole). It’s literally a “nose hole.” You’ll also note that “pyrel” and “thrill” once sounded alike in English, which shows how far the language has developed phonically. That also means that the word “nostril” is surprisingly related to the word “thrilling.”
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Follow up on surprising word origins. If what you find when you look into the etymology of a particular word does not make obvious sense today, do some research to figure out why its original meaning is what it is. If you’re writing a paper on etymology, briefly discuss these origins and why they are unexpected.
- For instance, you may wonder where a word like “disaster” came from. When you look it up, you’ll find that its Greek roots are the negative prefix “dis” and “astron” (star). So, it’s earliest meaning was something like “bad star.” This might be surprising until you consider Greek astrology and their strong belief that celestial bodies exerted control over our lives on Earth.^{[9]
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Recognize related words. Now that you know the origin of a particular word, you can use it to identify words with similar histories and therefore with related sounds and meanings.^{[10]
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Katherine Demby
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Expert Interview. 17 December 2020.}
- In the case of etymology, there are not a lot of related words, but you can see that “etymological,” “etymologically,” and “etymologist” are all closely related forms. In the case of a word like “autopsy” with the Greek root “autos” (meaning, “self”), there’ll be a whole host of related words, from “autonomy” (self-governing) to “automobile” (self-moving) to “automatic” (self-acting).^{[11]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Learning More About Etymology

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1
Get an etymology app. You can make studying etymology part of your daily routine by downloading a related app on one or more of your devices. That way, you can carry your hobby with you wherever you go. These apps can also help you understand how words have evolved from their origins and provide you with new perspectives.
- Etymology Explorer gives you engaging visual maps of word origins that are complete with full definitions, linguistic histories, and links to related words.^{[12]
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- WordBook is a comprehensive dictionary app with a significant etymological component that provides the word origins and links to related words for thousands of entries.
2
Take a related MOOC. Sometimes there are free Massive Online Courses available on etymology. They’re taught by qualified professors at top universities and colleges, so you’re getting a dose of higher education on word history at no charge!^{[13]
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- The Open University has a free online course available on the history of the English Language that you can take at your own pace. It explores etymology alongside lexicography.^{[14]
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3
Go to the library. Search your local library’s online catalog for textbooks, dictionaries, studies, and other resources related to etymology. That way, you can expand your knowledge of the complex subject without paying lots of money to build your own collection of etymology books since academic books tend to be expensive.
- University libraries will probably have more etymology-related resources available than public libraries.
- This is also a great opportunity to delve into specific types of etymology that may interest you. For instance, you can get an etymology book associated with a specific language or dialect or with a particular field, like geography or medicine.
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Do Internet research. A quick Internet search can yield tons of results about the etymologies of various words. You might even find some interesting discussion threads on the topic. You could also post a question to a forum site, like Quora, for more information.
- If you’re looking for more academic results, try using a site like Google Scholar.
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Follow a related blog or podcast. There are many popular blogs and podcasts where you can read and listen to stories about etymology. Both offer a fun and informative way to keep up your hobby of studying etymology.
- For blogs, try the Oxford Etymologist, The Etyman Language Blog, or Omniglot Blog.
- For podcasts, try The Allusionist, Lexicon Valley, or The History of English.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Studying Etymology Formally

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1
Take a course for credit. Many colleges and universities offer traditional and online courses related to etymology. There will not be a broad array of related courses available, but there is likely to be one or two at most higher education institutions. The best place to look for classes related to etymology are in the Classics, English, and Linguistics departments.
- Keep in mind that you will have to be enrolled at a college or university in order to take a course through them. Most courses taken for credit will require you to be accepted as a student through a formal application process and to pay a tuition fee.
2
Apply for a linguistics degree program. No colleges or universities currently offer degrees specifically in etymology. However, many higher ed institutions do have Linguistics Departments that offer bachelor’s, master’s, and/or doctoral degrees. Getting a degree in Linguistics is the best preparation you can have for becoming a professional word historian.^{[15]
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- The QS World University Rankings publishes an annual list of the top international programs in Linguistics according to their strengths in research and reputation along with their student and faculty ratio and diversity.^{[16]
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Get a related job or internship. Study etymology in a hands-on way. There isn’t too much call for professional etymologists these days. However, if you’d like to pursue a career in word history, the best way to go about it is to seek an editorial position with a quality dictionary, like the Oxford English Dictionary.^{[17]
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- Dictionaries require constant updates to word definitions and etymologies, which means they always need new editorial staff. Search for job openings at dictionaries that interest you. They could be anything from the Oxford English Dictionary to Dictionary.com.

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Why is it important to know the etymology of words?

Katherine Demby
Academic Tutor
Katherine Demby is an Academic Consultant based in New York City. Katherine specializes in tutoring for the LSAT, GRE, SAT, ACT, and academic subjects for high school and college students. She holds a BA in History and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a JD from Yale Law School. Katherine is also a freelance writer and editor.

Katherine Demby

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Besides the fact that it's super interesting, knowledge of etymology will make it much easier to identify words you don't know. It's especially helpful when it comes to standardized tests, and reading.

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What's the easiest way to find where a word comes from?

Katherine Demby
Academic Tutor
Katherine Demby is an Academic Consultant based in New York City. Katherine specializes in tutoring for the LSAT, GRE, SAT, ACT, and academic subjects for high school and college students. She holds a BA in History and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a JD from Yale Law School. Katherine is also a freelance writer and editor.

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Look it up in an etymological dictionary! You can buy a hardcover copy, or you can just hop online and search a digital dictionary. That's going to be the fastest way.

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What should I start studying first if I want to learn etymology?

Katherine Demby
Academic Tutor
Katherine Demby is an Academic Consultant based in New York City. Katherine specializes in tutoring for the LSAT, GRE, SAT, ACT, and academic subjects for high school and college students. She holds a BA in History and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a JD from Yale Law School. Katherine is also a freelance writer and editor.

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Start by working through the super common prefixes and suffixes. Once you've identified one, you can make inferences about other words with the same prefix or suffix. For example, matri- comes from the Latin word mater, which means "mother." So, once you know that you can immediately figure certain things out about maternity, matricide, matrimony, or matriarchal. They're all related to motherhood or women!

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Read! The more you read, the more words you see. When you learn and see these words used, you will recognize other words that look similar or are used similarly. This can be a great starting point for another quick etymology study.

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Try looking up all sorts of words, from the anatomical ("wrist, bicep, knee, digit" etc) to the zany such as slang words (but be aware that some, if they are too new, may not yet have made it into the dictionary).

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Warnings

Since etymology is not a perfect science, not all etymologies of a given word will be the same. Some of their roots and histories may even be disputed. Check out more than one etymological definition to see how different etymologists have interpreted a word’s history.

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The internet contains many false etymologies and origins, so be sure that you’re doing research using an authoritative dictionary. An example is CANOE - the Committee to Assign Naval Origins to Everything (not a real committee!) - which gives an entirely spurious explanation as to the origins of "brass monkey weather."

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Because our written record of languages is incomplete and many languages do not have a written record, etymology is not a perfect science. It can only attempt to recreate the history of words based on the limited evidence that we have available.

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