How to Interpret Etymologies

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An etymology is often believed to be just the definition of a word, but it's much more than a simple definition. An etymology includes word definitions as well as word histories. It tells how and when a word entered a language, where it came from and how it has evolved. When looking at the etymology of a particular word, it helps to know what to look for in terms of the different aspects of etymologies.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

Oxford English Dictionary or access to the Internet

Step1

Look at the definition of the word you are researching. Words usually have more than one definition and the definitions may or may not be related, so be sure you are looking at the etymology for the word in which you are interested. For example, “bass” the fish is a completely different word than “bass” the voice.

Step2

Once you have determined you have the correct etymology, notice the different ways that words can originate to see how your word came into existence. Words can be borrowed from other languages, they can be formed by derivation (adding prefixes and suffixes), they can be formed by adding one word to another (compounding) and they can even be created by copying the sounds of other known words; for example, “e-tail” from “retail.”

Step3

Now notice how words can change over time. A word can change its sound while retaining its meaning and a word can change its meaning while retaining its sound. This change of meaning is often brought about by metaphoric extension. For example, the word “clotheshorse” originally denoted an object on which to hang clothing, and through metaphoric extension it came to mean a person who has a lot of clothing and likes to show it off by wearing many different outfits.