Etymography

/ˌɛtɪˈmɒɡrəfi/ noun

Definition

The written study and documentation of word origins and their historical development.

Etymology

From Greek etymo- (true sense of a word) + -graphy (writing or description). This compound emerged in the 19th century as scholars systematically began recording the histories of words in academic publications.

Kelly Says

Etymography is basically archaeology for words—instead of digging up artifacts, scholars dig through centuries of language records to trace where words came from and how they changed meaning over time.

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