popular etymology

Save This Word!

noun

folk etymology.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of popular etymology

First recorded in 1875–80

Words nearby popular etymology

pop the question, pop-top, populace, popular, popular culture, popular etymology, popular front, popularity, popularize, popularly, popular music

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use popular etymology in a sentence

The simple, awful truth is that free speech has never been particularly popular in America.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Charles “Father” Coughlin, a raving anti-Semite, was one of the most popular radio hosts in the country.
Why Was Bess Myerson the First and Last Jewish Miss America?|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
While this deferred action is controversial in the United States, in Mexico, what Obama did is universally popular.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting|Ruben Navarrette Jr.|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“He was a brave field commander and an expert in intelligence, and in organizing popular and tribal forces,” said the eulogist.
What an Iranian Funeral Tells Us About the Wars in Iraq|IranWire|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Whether he gets his full due in popular culture remains to be seen.
Ed Brooke: The Senate's Civil Rights Pioneer and Prophet of a Post-Racial America|John Avlon|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I know that in putting this before you I challenge some of the most popular affectations of cultivated people.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
As a good-looking young bachelor, though a detrimental, he had been very popular.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
In France the habit of snuffing was the most popular mode and to this day the custom is more general than elsewhere.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
This work describes the fops and men of fashion of its time, and shows how popular the custom of tobacco taking had become.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
He was for many years judge of a court in Connecticut, and is known as the author of the popular poem, McFingal.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell

British Dictionary definitions for popular etymology

popular etymology

noun

linguistics another name for folk etymology

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012