Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

As the etymologist Anatoly Liberman has pointed out, in its earliest forms, haga, hegg and hegge, the word meant “enclosure” or “yard,” especially the residence of a feudal lord.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

The word came into English as “empechen” by way of the Old French word empechier, meaning to prevent or to hinder, according to the British etymologist Michael Quinion.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 18, 2019

“I make it sound very scholarly,” says Merriam etymologist Jim Rader, a onetime Slavic linguistics graduate student who writes the historical notes.

From Slate • Jan. 12, 2015

I’m no etymologist; I don’t know when that exclamation point became a question mark and was wrapped in sarcasm.

From New York Times • Oct. 1, 2012

The most lawless etymologist bows down to the authority of Grimm’s law, even if he honours it almost as much in the breach as in the observance.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various