etymological
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Something etymological relates to the way a word originated. You can look up a word's roots and the history of how it came to get its meaning in an etymological dictionary. Etymology is the history of words, including the way they've changed through the years. The adjective etymological describes anything that has to do with etymology. Etymological research of English words often leads back to Old English, Greek, or Latin roots. The etymological origin of etymological, in fact, is Greek: the root word etymologia means "study of the true sense of a word."
Vocabulary lists containing etymological
Frindle
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The Lives of a Cell
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Chronically Dolores
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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.
“Travel” has the same etymological root as “travail.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
I’m glad you asked, because earlier this week The Times published an entertaining history of the word’s etymological evolution.
From New York Times ● Feb. 13, 2024
The effect becomes increasingly oppressive as the arguments wax and wane, about everything from the etymological difference between “leaving” and “fleeing” to the nature of forgiveness.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 4, 2023
“For the Calendar, I wanted to go back to the etymological root of the word ‘muse’.
From Reuters ● Nov. 16, 2022
‘Proof’ thus covers both necessary truths and practical tests, and it has the same etymological root as ‘probe’ and ‘probability’.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
