Etymonline - Online Etymology Dictionary
The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible enough to be used by anyone.
etymology | Etymology of etymology by etymonline
2024年7月17日 · As practised by Socrates in the Cratylus, etymology involves a claim about the underlying semantic content of the name, what it really means or indicates. This content is taken to have been put there by the ancient namegivers: giving an etymology is thus a matter of unwrapping or decoding a name to find the message the namegivers have placed ...
dictionary | Etymology of dictionary by etymonline
2018年8月19日 · As an adjective, "of or pertaining to a dictionary," from 1630s. Dictionarist "compiler of a dictionary" (1610s) is older than dictionarian (1806 as a noun, 1785 as an adjective). Grose's 1788 "Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" has "RICHARD SNARY.
word | Etymology of word by etymonline
2022年8月4日 · late 14c., verbe, "a word" (a sense now obsolete but preserved in verbal, etc.); especially specifically in grammar, "a word that asserts or declares; that part of speech of which the office is predication, and which, either alone or with various modifiers or adjuncts, combines with a subject to make a sentence" [Century Dictionary].
bio - Etymonline
2017年10月25日 · When Etymonline.com turned 10 a few years ago, the anniversary invited a new "who did this" page. The old one still is where it was; this one is about me as maker of the Online Etymology Dictionary, which is practically the …
language | Etymology of language by etymonline
2024年2月13日 · The meaning "a language" (as English, French, Arabic, etc.) is from c. 1300; Century Dictionary (1897) defines this as: "The whole body of uttered signs employed and understood by a given community as expressions of its thoughts; the aggregate of words, and of methods of their combination into sentences, used in a community for communication ...
search | Etymology of search by etymonline
2022年3月21日 · search (n.). c. 1400, serche, "act of searching; a seeking or looking; a search through an area or a place; examination of records, wills, etc.;" early 15c., "right to investigate illegal activity;" from Anglo-French serche, Old French cerche "investigation," from cerchier (see search (v.)). Search-warrant, granted by authority to a constable to enter premises of …
free | Etymology of free by etymonline
2018年12月6日 · free. (adj.). Old English freo "exempt from; not in bondage, acting of one's own will," also "noble; joyful," from Proto-Germanic *friaz "beloved; not in bondage" (source also of Old Frisian fri, Old Saxon vri, Old High German vri, German frei, Dutch vrij, Gothic freis "free"), from PIE *priy-a-"dear, beloved," from root *pri-"to love.". The sense evolution from "to love" to …
orange | Etymology of orange by etymonline
2023年6月10日 · Its Roman name was Arausio, which is said in 19c. sources to be from aura "a breeze" and a reference to the north winds which rush down the valley, but perhaps this is folk etymology of a Celtic word.
virtual | Etymology of virtual by etymonline
2024年10月5日 · virtual. (adj.). late 14c., "influencing by physical virtues or capabilities, effective with respect to inherent natural qualities," from Medieval Latin virtualis, from Latin virtus "excellence, potency, efficacy," literally "manliness, manhood" (see virtue).It preserves Middle English virtue in the sense of "efficacy, power to do.". The meaning "being something in …