etymology
- etymology
The study of the origin of words. It has influenced
exegesis, especially of the
OT. It has sometimes been assumed that the root meaning of a verb in Hebrew, or a related Semitic language, was a clue to its meaning in the
Bible, and that it was even possible to build a doctrinal structure on this basis. It thus tended to ignore the changes made in the course of time by other (
e.g. Hellenistic) cultures in the meaning of words and to overlook the contexts in which they were used.
Etymology, in the sense of the study of the formation of words, appears in the
NT at
Matt. 1:21, where the name Jesus, the Greek equivalent of Hebrew
Joshua (= Yahweh saves) is explained as ‘he will save his people from their sins’.
Dictionary of the Bible.
Synonyms:
Look at other dictionaries:
etymology — (n.) late 14c., ethimolegia facts of the origin and development of a word, from O.Fr. et(h)imologie (14c., Mod.Fr. étymologie), from L. etymologia, from Gk. etymologia, properly study of the true sense (of a word), from etymon true sense (neuter… … Etymology dictionary
etymology — 1. Etymology is the study of the history and derivation of words, and an etymology is the history of a particular word. Most dictionaries of concise size and larger give detailed accounts of a word s sources, which can be from other English words … Modern English usage
Etymology — Et y*mol o*gy ( j[y^]), n.; pl. {Etymologies} ( j[i^]z). [L.etymologia, Gr. etymologi a; e tymon etymon + lo gos discourse, description: cf. F. [ e]tymologie. See {Etymon}, and { logy}.] 1. That branch of philological science which treats of the… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
etymology — index origination Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
etymology — [n] word history derivation, development, etymon, origin, phrase history, phrase origin, root, source; concept 275 … New thesaurus
etymology — ► NOUN (pl. etymologies) ▪ an account of the origins and the developments in meaning of a word. DERIVATIVES etymological adjective etymologically adverb etymologist noun. ORIGIN Greek etumologia, from etumos true … English terms dictionary
etymology — [et΄ə mäl′əjē] n. pl. etymologies [ME & OFr ethimologie < L etymologia < Gr: see ETYMON & LOGY] 1. the origin and development of a word, affix, phrase, etc.; the tracing of a word or other form back as far as possible in its own language… … English World dictionary
Etymology — Etymologies redirects here. For the encyclopedia, see Etymologiae. For the Elvish dictionary, see The Etymologies (Tolkien). Not to be confused with Entomology or Etiology. For help writing an etymology on Wikipedia, see Template:Etymology … Wikipedia
etymology — n. 1) to ascertain, determine, trace an etymology 2) folk etymology (the professor explained the origin of a word by folk etymology) * * * determine trace an etymology to ascertain folk etymology (the professor explained the origin of a word by… … Combinatory dictionary
etymology — etymological /et euh meuh loj i keuhl/, etymologic, adj. etymologically, adv. etymologist, n. /et euh mol euh jee/, n., pl. etymologies. 1. the derivation of a word. 2. an account of the history of a particular word or element of a word. 3. t … Universalium
etymology — [14] The underlying meaning of etymology is ‘finding the underlying or ‘true’ meaning of words’. Its ultimate source is Greek étumos ‘real, true’. From this was derived étumon ‘true or literal sense of a word’ (acquired by English in the 16th… … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins