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Etymology (/ ˌ ɛ t ɪ ˈ m ɒ l ə dʒ i /, ET-im-OL-ə-jee [1]) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. [2] In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics , etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. [ 1 ]
The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology is an etymological dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press.The first editor of the dictionary was Charles Talbut Onions, who spent his last twenty years largely devoted to completing the first edition, published in 1966, which treated over 38,000 words and went to press just before his death.
A great number of words of French origin have entered the English language, to the extent that many Latin words have come to the English language. Up to 45% of all English words have a French origin. [1] [verification needed] [better source needed] This suggests that 80,000 words should appear in this list.
For many words in any language, the etymology will be uncertain, disputed, or simply unknown. In such cases, depending on the space available, an etymological dictionary will present various suggestions and perhaps make a judgement on their likelihood, and provide references to a full discussion in specialist literature .
The Online Etymology Dictionary or Etymonline, sometimes abbreviated as OED (not to be confused with the Oxford English Dictionary, which the site often cites), is a free online dictionary that describes the origins of English words, written and compiled by Douglas R. Harper.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first edition in 1884, traces the historical development of the English language, providing a comprehensive resource to ...
English etymology is the study of where English words came from. It may refer to: History of the English language; English words of Greek origin; List of Greek morphemes used in English; List of Greek and Latin roots in English; Latin influence in English; List of Latin words with English derivatives; Lists of English words by country or ...
The meaning and origin of name of Latvian people is unclear, however the root lat-/let- is associated with several Baltic hydronyms and might share common origin with the Liet-part of neighbouring Lithuania (Lietuva, see below) and name of Latgalians – one of the Baltic tribes that are considered ancestors of modern Latvian people.