1. study of word origins: the study of the origins of words or parts of words and how they have arrived at their current form and meaning
2. history of a word: the origin of a word or part of a word, or a statement of this, and how it has arrived at its current form and meaning. An etymology often shows the different forms the word has taken in passing from one language to another, and sometimes shows related words in other languages. The words have the same spelling but different etymologies.
[14th century. Via Old French< Greek etumologia< etumon (see etymon)]
