etymon

American  

[et-uh-mon] / ˈɛt əˌmɒn /

noun

plural

etymons, etyma

1. the linguistic form from which another form is historically derived, as the Latin cor “heart,” which is the etymon of English cordial, or the Indo-European *ḱ (e ) rd-, which is the etymon of Latin cor, Greek kardía, Russian serdtse, and English heart.

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etymon British  

/ ˈɛtɪˌmɒn /

noun

1. a form of a word or morpheme, usually the earliest recorded form or a reconstructed form, from which another word or morpheme is derived: the etymon of English "ewe" is Indo-European " * owi"

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Etymology

Origin of etymon

1560–70; < Latin: the origin of a word < Greek étymon the essential meaning of a word seen in its origin or traced to its grammatical parts (neuter of étymos true, actual, real)

Example Sentences

The etymon is in old English wrestling�to have on the hip; to render an opponent powerless because tractionless.

From Time Magazine Archive

It happens, perhaps yet more frequently, that a German name, which cannot be explained by anything within the range of Teutonic dialects, may find a sufficient etymon from the Celtic.

From Surnames as a Science by Ferguson, Robert

The idea of Yahweh, or Yah, is palpably Egyptian, the Ankh or ever-living One: the etymon, however, was learned at Babylon and is still found amongst the cuneiforms.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 10 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

Gael. arg, white, which has been generally adduced as the etymon of these names, may intermix.

From The River-Names of Europe by Ferguson, Robert

I cannot admit any of these derivations, though perhaps my own etymon may not be deemed less irrelevant, viz. pellis, the skin of a beast, whence our English terms pell, pelt, peltry, &c.

From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Lower, Mark Antony