Etymology

Etymology is the study of the origin of words. It came from the Latin and Greek word, “etymologia” which means “analysis of a word to find its true meaning”. Many definitions and explanations refer to a word’s etymology to better understand its concept.

For instance, the etymology of psychology is from the Greek words “psyche” which means “mind or soul” and “logy” which means “science”. Psychology is more popularly defined as the “study of behavior” which is a manifestation of one’s mind. Etymologists look into how a word has been influenced by factors such as language change, symbolical meanings, and sound alterations. They use ancient texts, compare words with similar ancestor languages, and hypothesize about words’ meanings.