Etymology (Greek etymología, from étymon - the true meaning of the word, etymon and lógos - word, teaching)

a branch of linguistics that studies the origin of words, their initial structure and semantic connections. The term was introduced by ancient philosophers more than 2 thousand years ago. E. in broad sense words - reconstruction of the sound and word-formation composition of the word; in addition to the kinship of sounds and the identity of morphemes, it reveals the selectivity of the combination of morphemes in certain word-formation models. E. is also called the result of disclosing the origin of the word. Etymological research is characterized by a multiplicity possible solutions; problematic, hypothetical. E. is a special case of the manifestation of the hypothetical nature of the constructions of explanatory science, in contrast to descriptive sciences. The foundations of scientific ecology are associated with comparative historical linguistics. Ethnography reached its greatest development in those languages ​​that have been more fully studied in comparative historical terms (Indo-European, Finno-Ugric). Folk (or false) E. refers to cases of secondary etymological understanding, the attraction of words that originally had a different origin.

Lit .: Pisani V., Etymology, trans. from ital., M., 1956; VN Toporov, On some theoretical foundations of etymological analysis, "Questions of linguistics", 1960, No. 3; Trubachev O. N., The task of etymological research in the field of Slavic languages, " Brief messages Institute of Slavic Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR ", 1961, at, 33-34; Etymologie, Hrsg. von R. Schmitt, Darmstadt, 1977.

O. N. Trubachev.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M .: Soviet encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what "Etymology" is in other dictionaries:

- (Greek etymos is correct, logos speech). The part of grammar dealing with word production. Vocabulary foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov AN, 1910. ETHYMOLOGY [gr. etymologia Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Etymology, etymology, wives. (from the Greek. etymos true and logos doctrine) (ling.). 1.units only. Department of Linguistics, which studies the origin of words. Studies in Russian etymology. 2. The very origin of this or that word. This word has an unclear ... ... Dictionary Ushakova

Female, Greek word production, root language, learning about education from one word to another. gicheskiy dictionary, indicating the roots, the origin of words, derivative. An etymologist, a scientist in this respect. Etymology is a conversation with the past, with thought ... ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

- (from the Greek etymon truth, the true meaning of the word and ... logia), 1) the origin of the word or morpheme. 2) The section of linguistics, which deals with the study of the initial derivational structure of a word and the identification of its elements ancient meaning … Modern encyclopedia

ETHYMOLOGY, and, well. Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Noun., Number of synonyms: 8 root words (1) lexicology (8) linguistics (73) ... Synonym dictionary

- (Greek etymon - the true meaning of the word) 1) the origin of the word or morpheme; 2) a section of linguistics dealing with the study of the initial derivational structure of a word and the identification of elements of its ancient meaning. A large explanatory dictionary ... ... Encyclopedia of Cultural Studies

etymology- ETHYMOLOGY 1. The branch of linguistics that studies the origin of words; 2. The hypothesis about the origin of the word, the elevation of the word to its original form. The term "E." was first used by the early Stoics, who were very serious about ... ... Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science

Etymology- ETHYMOLOGY. 1. The school name of the grammar department, which contains phonetics and morphology, Ph.D. language; in this sense, E. is opposed to syntax; in science in this sense the word E. is not used. 2. In the science of E. this or that word (in ... ... Dictionary of literary terms

Etymology- ■ It is easiest to install it with the help of Latin and a little thought ... Lexicon of common truths

etymology- and, w. étymologie f., c. etymologia Calling the waterfall the lord of moisture, I face it, forgetting its etymology, and talking about that invisible moteur, the stirrer of water turmoil. 28.8.1825. Vyazemsky to Pushkin. // RA 1874 1 170. Lex. Ush. 1940: ... ... Historical Dictionary of Russian Gallicisms

Books

• Etymology, O.N. Trubachev. The Etymology Yearbook includes a number of works devoted to various issues of Slavic (including Russian), Indo-European and partially non-Indo-European etymology, concerning as common ...

The section is very easy to use. In the proposed field, just enter the desired word, and we will give you a list of its meanings. I would like to note that our site provides data from various sources - encyclopedic, explanatory, word-formation dictionaries. Also here you can get acquainted with examples of the use of the word you entered.

The meaning of the word etymology

etymology in the crossword dictionary

Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, Dal Vladimir

etymology

f. Greek word production, root language, learning about education from one word to another. -gical dictionary indicating roots, origin of words, derivative. An etymologist, a scientist in this respect. Etymology is a conversation with the past, with the thought of past generations, engraved by them from sounds, Khomyakov.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov

etymology

etymology, f. (from the Greek. etymos - true and logos - doctrine) (ling.).

only units. Department of Linguistics, which studies the origin of words. Studies in Russian etymology.

The very origin of this or that word. This word has an unclear etymology. Establish the etymology of some n. words. The etymology of the word "telephone" is Greek.

only units. Grammar without syntax (i.e., the study of sounds, parts of speech and word forms), predominantly. as a subject of school teaching (outdated). Folk etymology (lingual) is a remake of an incomprehensible (for example, borrowed) word, explained by the need to bring it closer in sound similarity to some kind of n. from familiar words and thus comprehend it, for example. "skupulant" vm. "speculator" under the influence of "buy up"; such a reworked word itself.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I.Ozhegov, N.Yu.Shvedova.

etymology

The origin of a word or expression. Establish the etymology of the word. * Folk etymology (special) - alteration of a borrowed word based on a similar sounding word native language based on the association of meanings (for example, in Leskov: a small scope instead of a microscope).

adj. etymological, th, th. E. Dictionary.

New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

etymology

A branch of linguistics that studies the origin of words.

The origin of a word or expression in terms of its relationships with other words or expressions of the given and other languages.

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

etymology

ETHYMOLOGY (from the Greek etymon - truth, the true meaning of the word and ... logia)

the origin of a word or morpheme.

A branch of linguistics that deals with the study of the initial derivational structure of a word and the identification of elements of its ancient meaning.

Etymology

(Greek etymología, from étymon - the true meaning of the word, etymon and lógos - the word, doctrine), a branch of linguistics that studies the origin of words, their initial structure and semantic connections. The term was introduced by ancient philosophers more than 2 thousand years ago. E. In the broadest sense of the word is the reconstruction of the sound and derivational composition of the word; in addition to the kinship of sounds and the identity of morphemes, it reveals the selectivity of the combination of morphemes in certain word-formation models. E. is also called the result of disclosing the origin of the word. Etymological research is characterized by a plurality of possible solutions; problematic, hypothetical. E. is a special case of the manifestation of the hypothetical nature of the constructions of explaining science, in contrast to descriptive sciences. The foundations of scientific ecology are associated with comparative historical linguistics. Ethnography reached its greatest development in those languages ​​that have been more fully studied in comparative historical terms (Indo-European, Finno-Ugric). Folk (or false) E. refers to cases of secondary etymological comprehension, the attraction of words that originally had a different origin.

Lit .: Pisani V., Etymology, trans. from ital., M., 1956; Toporov VN, On some theoretical foundations of etymological analysis, "Questions of linguistics", 1960, ╧3; Trubachev ON, The task of etymological research in the field of Slavic languages, "Brief Communications of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR", 1961, at, 33-34; Etymologie, Hrsg. von R. Schmitt, Darmstadt, 1977.

O. N. Trubachev.

Wikipedia

Etymology

Etymology- a section of linguistics (comparative historical linguistics) that studies the origin of words (and less often morphemes). And also - the research methodology used to identify the history of the origin of the word and the very result of such identification. Also, the etymology can be understood as the origin of the word itself (for example, “the word notebook Greek etymology "," to offer a more convincing etymology ", that is, the version of the origin - directly etymone).

The term "etymology" originated among the ancient Greek philosophers-Stoics and, according to the later testimony of Diogenes Laertius, is attributed to Chrysippus (281 / 278-208 / 205 BC). Until the 19th century, the term "etymology" in linguistics could be used in the sense of "grammar". Initially, the ancients - the doctrine of the "true" meaning of the word (see Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636) - encyclopedia "Etymology": en: Etymologiae).

Examples of the use of the word etymology in literature.

Days given to wasted labor - forget about the century of one of the many poets southern mainland, to whom fate or constellations sent flesh that did not give offspring, and blindness - prison and twilight, and old age, the morning of the approaching death, and glory that is not worth a penny, and the skill to weave the same five-foot, and an ingrained tenderness for dictionaries, miniature painstaking maps, chiseled bones, childhood longing for centuries-old Latin and fragments of the landscapes of Edinburgh and Geneva, and forgetting names and dates, and the cult of a single East, alien to the peoples of the many-faced East, and the expectation of fulfilled hopes, and false moves etymology, and the steel of Saxon hammered accordions, and every evening new moon, and this city is a bad habit, and the taste of raisins and plain water and chocolate, Mexican sweets, coins and hourglasses, so that tonight - one of many, he again resigned himself to a handful of these words.

And all her nasty, weak, unstable character - she always gives in at a decisive moment, and she is not able to seriously get carried away with conchiology, etymology, botany, archeology, cut potato tubers into pieces and monitor their fruitfulness, such as Mary Dennis, such as Violet Särle.

Vostokov is responsible for the preparation of the theoretical and material basis for subsequent research in the field of historical word formation, lexicology, etymology and even morphonology.

A grief-stricken one can be saved by a trifle - the slightest distraction of memory or attention: the taste of a fruit, the taste of plain water, a face returned by sleep, the first November jasmine, a compass that does not know tired, a book, the loss of which has already resigned itself, the heartbeat of a hexameter, a small key to front door, the smell of books and sandalwood, the old name of the lane, the colors of the map, etymology, a trimmed nail, a forgotten date, midnight chimes or sudden pain.

Wise etymology in the word itself, she captured the transience and unreality of the concept.

Particularly noticeable is the contribution of David Grammar to the classification of principles etymology.

Apparently, the meaning of the use of this name, given its etymology, lies in a kind of chosenness, in the exclusivity of the role that Ford the son is trying to take on.

There were a dozen hand-painted illustrations and a dictionary of several hundred names with their meanings, etymology and an explanation of the merits and demerits of each name.

Once he willingly attended meetings where vocabulary was discussed, showed interest in etymology words and the secrets of the subjunctive mood.

Etymology is a very interesting science! But many have not even heard of it and do not know what etymology is. And there are those who confuse it with medical term"etiology" (studies the causes of diseases and pathogenic factors affecting the body).

Etymology studies the origin of words, finding out on the basis of what signs certain objects, actions, signs and phenomena were named.

Etymology of etymology

Like all words, the term "etymology" has its own etymology. This word is of Greek origin and consists of two words:

• etymon - true, original value;
• logos - teaching, word.

This word was borrowed in the 17th century. Before late XIX century, within the framework of etymology, the form of the word was also studied, until Philip Fedorovich Fortunatov introduced the concept of "morphology".

How is the origin of a word established?

Scientists note that the modern achievements of comparative-historical linguistics make it possible to trace with relative ease how the morphological and sound composition of a word developed over time. But it is often very difficult to determine the evolution of meaning.

For example, let's take the word "river". This word is directly related to the ancient root that conveys movement. Related to it are words such as rush, roar, swarm. Other languages ​​have words with the same root: Latin rivus- stream, ancient Indian rauas- current, Irish rian- the river.

In contrast to the river, the word "sea" is derived from the root, which means stillness, stagnant water. In other languages, you can find words with the same root, denoting a swamp (German Moor- swamp).

IN Ancient Rus, according to scientists, the sea was called differently. IN Old Russian language the word "slannik" has survived, which was used to describe sea fishermen. It is easy to correlate it with the name of the sea on the basis of its salinity. This is confirmed by the Latin language, in which the word "sea" sounds like "salum".

Over time, the signs that were the basis different names, lose their imagery and their meaning becomes incomprehensible to modern man... For example, today few people know that the word "swan" contains the idea of ​​whiteness, and the word "dove" is associated not with blue, but with yellow.

Etymology and life

Etymology is one of the most difficult sciences. Not every etymologist makes a truly good specialist.

However, the origin of words is of interest not only to linguists and philologists, but also to ordinary people, since it is very interesting to get to the bottom of the truth and discover semantic and semantic connections between words. This is how a folk etymology arose, which often brings together words that have nothing in common with each other.

For example, many believe that the word "slap in the face" comes from the word "ear". However, this is not at all the case. Scientists have found that the ancestor of "slap in the face" is the word "spit". The fact is that before a fist fight, the fighters habitually spat on their hands. This action was reflected in the word.

Or one more evidence of the strong influence of folk etymology. For us, the word "witness" is strongly associated with the verb "see." After all, a "witness" is a person who saw what happened with his own eyes. But initially this word was formed from the verb "vedeti", that is, "to know". The word "information" is used in the same meaning in Belarusian, and "information" in Ukrainian.

This is such an interesting science - etymology. It can be studied endlessly, and it will always surprise you with new discoveries.

Ushakov's Dictionary

Etymology

etymology, etymology, wives(from Greek etymos - true and logos - teaching) ( ling.).

1. only units Department of Linguistics, which studies the origin of words. Studies in Russian etymology.

2. The very origin of this or that word. This word has an unclear etymology. Establish the etymology of a word. The etymology of the word "telephone" is Greek.

3. only units A grammar without syntax ( those. the doctrine of sounds, parts of speech and word forms), preim. as a subject of school teaching ( outdated.).

Folk etymology ( ling.) - alteration, incomprehensible ( ex. borrowed) word, explained by the need to bring it closer in sound similarity to some of the familiar words and thus comprehend it, ex."buy-up" instead of "speculator" under the influence of "buy-up"; such a reworked word itself.

Etymology

(Greek etymologia from etymon - truth, the main meaning of the word + logos - concept, doctrine). 1) A branch of linguistics that studies the origin and history of individual words and morphemes. 2 Origin and history of words and morphemes. Etymology of the word grammar

Beginnings of Modern Natural Science. Thesaurus

Etymology

(from Greek etymologia - truth + logic)

1) the origin of the word (applies to concepts that have arisen in the scientific language);

2)

Culturology. Reference dictionary

Etymology

(Greek etymon is the true meaning of the word)

1) the origin of the word or morpheme;

2) a branch of linguistics dealing with the study of the initial derivational structure of a word and the identification of elements of its ancient meaning.

Rhetoric: Reference Dictionary

Etymology

in rhetoric

Dictionary of linguistic terms

Etymology

(Old Greekέτυμος true, truthful)

1) The origin of the word or morpheme;

2) a branch of linguistics that explores the initial structure and meaning of words, morphemes.

II.

(gr. έτυμολογια

1. Determination of the origin of a word and its relationship to other words of the same or other languages.

2. Const. A section of school grammar that contains the teaching about sounds (phonetics), parts of speech and word structure (morphology).

III. in rhetoric:

a figure of emphasis based on the disclosure of the meanings of a word through origin or composition; E. In rhetoric does not coincide with etymology in linguistics.

Linguistic terms and concepts: Vocabulary. Lexicology. Phraseology

Etymology

(Old Greek ετυμος)

A branch of linguistics that deals with the study of the origin of the word, as well as historical changes in the structure of the word and its meanings. E. is based on the patterns of sound changes, morphological changes in words. It takes into account regular transitions of one type or another. lexical meanings into other types: metaphorization, metonymy, narrowing and expanding the meaning of the word.

Kinosemiotics terms

ETYMOLOGY

the science of the origin of words

Grammar Dictionary: Grammar and Linguistic Terms

Etymology

1. The school name of the grammar department, which contains phonetics and morphology, Ph.D. language; in this sense, E. is opposed to syntax; in science in this sense the word E. is not used.

2. In the science of E. of one or another word (plural: E-and those or other words) - the origin and history of the morphological composition of a particular word, with the elucidation of those morphological elements from which the given word was once formed.

Rhetoric: Reference Dictionary

Etymology

in rhetoric: a figure of emphasis based on the disclosure of the meanings of a word through origin or composition; E. in rhetoric does not coincide with etymology in linguistics

encyclopedic Dictionary

Etymology

(from the Greek. etymon - truth, the true meaning of the word and ... logic), ..

1. origin of a word or morpheme ...
2. A branch of linguistics that deals with the study of the initial derivational structure of a word and the identification of elements of its ancient meaning.

Ozhegov Dictionary

ETIMOL O GIA, and, f.

1.

2. The origin of a word or expression. Establish the etymology of the word.

Folk etymology(special) alteration of a borrowed word based on a similar sounding word of the native language based on the association of meanings (for example, in Leskov: small scope instead of microscope).

| adj. etymological, oh, oh. E. Dictionary.

Efremova's Dictionary

Etymology

1. f.
   1. A branch of linguistics that studies the origin of words.
   2. The origin of a word or expression in terms of its relationships with other words or expressions of the given and other languages.

Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Etymology

A grammatical term (from the Greek έτυμος - true, true and λογία - doctrine, science), which has two meanings. In the terminology of school grammar, E. refers to the section of grammar that contains the main phonetic rules and the doctrine of word formation (mainly about inflection: declension and conjugation). In this sense, E. is contrasted with the doctrine of a sentence (simple and complex) and its members, which is usually called syntax. In scientific linguistics, the name E. is understood to mean the correct, consistent with the requirements of science, the definition of the origin of a word and its relationship to other words of the same or other languages. For brevity, E. often call directly the origin of a word, indicating, for example, that E. is dark or, on the contrary, quite clear, etc. to bring together forms that seemingly have nothing in common with each other. So, only after comparative phonetics developed the doctrine of the so-called nasal sonants, it became possible to build negative Greek prefixes. ά- and germ. un- to one common source u, or n syllabic. Pott (see), author of the famous work "Etymologische Forschungen auf dem Gebiete der Indogermanischen Sprachen mit besonderem Bezug auf die Lautumwandlung im Sanskrit, Griechischen, Lateinischen, Litischengo 36; the second edition, completely revised and greatly expanded, came out in Detmold, in 1859-76). In this work, etymologization, previously based on striking external similarities (sometimes only accidental), was for the first time placed on the firm ground of phonetic laws and acquired the desired accuracy, alien to arbitrariness. Another remarkable scientist who did a lot for Indo-European etymology was A. Fick (see), the author of the comparative etymological dictionary of Indo-European languages: "Vergleichendes W örterbuch der indogerm. Sprachen" (1874-76), which had already passed 4 editions, and many separate etymological articles in various linguistic journals.

Etymology is characterized by the complex nature of research methods. The essence of the procedure of etymology, analysis: genetic identification of the word in question or its basis with another word or its basis as the original, producing, as well as the identification of others structural elements words with historically known structural elements and reconstruction of the primary form and meaning of a word with primary motivation; an indispensable stage of etymological analysis is the removal of later historical changes. The basis of the etymological methodology is the comparative-historical method of studying various units of the language, which is based on the laws of phonetic changes, morphological patterns, patterns of morphological changes, etc., which are the subject of the study of comparative grammar. Depending on the nature of the historical changes experienced by the word, and its relationship with potential related lexemes, in some cases of etymological analysis, the analysis of various structural elements or the meaning of the word acquires dominant significance. So, the Russian "shake", the Ukrainian "thermosity" and the Polish tarmosić, termosić can be interpreted as formations derived from the verb stem ter- 'to rub, to tear' (Russian "to rub"), but the analysis of the phonetic differences between these verbs (especially the Russian "sh "With Ukrainian" s "and Polish s') convinces us that only Polish tarmosić can be a direct continuation of the ancient derivative verb, while Russian and Ukrainian verbs are borrowed from Polish. When etymologizing the Russian word "bosom" to prove its derivation from the verb "-to lay", the most essential is the possibility of isolating the root "log-" and the suffix "-sno" in the word, as evidenced by the structure of the word "false" the root is "log-" and the suffix "-sno".

Particular difficulties in etymological analysis are presented by the explanation of the relationship of meanings, the development of meanings and the reconstruction of the primary semantics of the word. This is due to the variety and significance of semantic changes (compare the Russian literary “ditch” and the dialectal Novosibirsk “ditch” “a fence made of dung”, literary “ardent” and dialectical Vologda “ardently cold” “very cold”, Russian “transparent” and Czech prozračno 'cloudy'), their connection with extra-linguistic realities and insufficient knowledge of the types of semantic changes and the principles of nomination. The basis for semantic analysis in etymological research is the method of semantic parallels: as evidence of the supposed development of meanings (or the possibility of a combination of meanings), cases of a similar development (or combination) of meanings are cited. So, in confirmation of the belonging of the verb “goggle” (in the combination “goggle”) to the nest “rub” (where meanings like “tear, tear, rip off” are regular), we can indicate the close development of the meaning “tear” → “gape” in German reißen (cf. die Augen reißen 'goggle'). Semantic changes and combinations of meanings are only to some extent explained by the general laws of human thinking (such are the changes ‘abyss’ → ‘ a large number of something ’,‘ close ’→‘ soon ’,‘ strong ’→‘ fast ’→‘ cheeky ’). Most of the semantic transitions and combinations of meanings are due to the relationship of realities, the natural and social environment, the material and spiritual culture of native speakers, since the meanings of words reflect the world of realities. The interpretation of semantic changes and the application of the method of semantic parallels should be based on the entire body of knowledge about the world around a person, about a person and human society in their historical development, accumulated various industries science, taking into account the historical development of this knowledge. For example, the establishment of the relationship of the Russian "move" with the German Zweig "branch" and its derivation from "two" was carried out thanks to the reconstruction of the primary meaning of "lift" for the verb "move" and the use of information from the history of technology about the use of a stick as a lever for lifting weights , branches with a forked end (which could have been denoted by the derivative of "two" - as 'double'). The explanation of the kinship of the Latin rex ‘king’, regere ‘to rule’ with the Slavic rězati became possible thanks to the understanding of the priestly functions of the king in the most ancient society and their connection with the sacred, cosmological dimensions, which were carried out, in particular, by traits, incisions.

A necessary working technique in etymology is the reconstruction of the form and / or meaning historically preceding the attested ones, that is, the restoration on the basis of attested lexemes of their original, primary forms and meanings. The time interval between the fixed word and the reconstruction can be different; the chronological characteristics of reconstructions for different lexemes are also different, different languages(many words are the result of word formation in the 20th century). The presence of this interval makes the results of the etymological analysis hypothetical even at the very strict adherence all the requirements of the methodology, but hypotheticalness, which brings etymology closer to many historical disciplines, does not diminish the cognitive significance of its achievements.

Etymology is closely related to dialectology: dialectal data are important for solving the question of the origin of many words of the literary language. So, the formation of the word "joint" from the verb "to put" is argued by the dialectal usage of "stick out (arm, leg or finger)" ‘dislocate’. The dialect lexicon preserves many of the ancient lexemes that have been lost literary language(cf. Russian dialectal "bagno" ‘mud, swamp’, “nav” ‘dead’, “vir” ‘whirlpool’, which have correspondences in other Slavic languages ​​and in Indo-European languages, but not preserved in the literary Russian language).

Etymology has great importance for the development of historical lexicology in general and for comparative historical grammar, for which etymology plays the role of the basis and source of new materials that confirm the already established patterns and reveal unexplored phenomena in the history of the language. Since etymology is available chronological levels unattainable for written history, it serves, along with archeology, an important tool for studying the history of human society.

Etymology originated in antique greece(Plato, dialogue "Cratilus"). Here the term itself, attributed to the Stoics, appeared. But the ancient etymology was alien to the scientific understanding of the patterns of changes in the language and the sign nature of the language. Antihistorical and arbitrary interpretations bring this stage in the history of etymology closer to the so-called folk etymology - the transformation of words in the direction of their convergence with other words, which appear (due to the similarity of meanings, or form, or various associations) related (for example, "myopic" arose from "near-sighted", compare the Stoics with the convergence of the Latin crux ' cross' with crus' leg '). The principles of ancient etymology were preserved in the Middle Ages. Scientific etymology arose simultaneously with comparative historical linguistics. The establishment of sound correspondences of Indo-European languages ​​and the corresponding phonetic laws underlying comparative-historical linguistics was a consequence of the comparison of the lexemes of these languages ​​and the development of a hypothesis about their relationship, that is, a consequence of etymological operations. In turn, phonetic and other laws and patterns became the methodological foundation for etymology. The first theoretical presentation of etymology as a science belongs to A. F. Pott ("Etymological research in the field of Indo-Germanic languages", vols. 1-2, 1833-36). Important stages in the history of etymology are the recognition of the significance of dialects and the mastery of the methods of linguistic geography (J. Gillieron), the study of the specifics of changes in meanings and the analysis of vocabulary by semantic fields (J. Trier), attention to the connection between semantics and realities (the direction of "Words and Things" principles of studying vocabulary in connection with the culture and history of the people; R. Mehringer, W. Meyer-Lubke, G. Schuhardt, W. von Wartburg), an appeal to historical changes experienced primary form and the meaning of the word, that is, to the history of the word (etymology as a biography of a word as opposed to understanding etymology as the origin of a word; Schuhardt, Gillieron). The development of etymology in the 20th century. marked by the use of structural principles in etymological research (analysis of vocabulary by groups - semantic, root, affix, lexical and grammatical, taking into account various principles of organizing systems - opposition, association, etc.; E. Benveniste, G. Jacobsson, V.V. Martynov, A.S. Melnichuk), the desire to reconstruct the original words (and not just the roots), attention to irregular linguistic changes, especially relevant for etymology due to the individuality of the history of each word (V. Mahek, S. Ondrush and other representatives of the Czechoslovak etymological school ; however, the recognition of irregular changes in etymology remained subordinate to the concept of the determining role of phonetic laws - O. Semerenyi, J. Malkiel, O. N. Trubachev), the development of problems of the relationship between etymology and other areas of linguistics, especially comparative grammar, as well as the orientation of etymological studies towards grammatical problems (Malkiel, F. Slavsky), deepening the sociological aspect of etymological research, that is, the connection between the study of the origin of vocabulary and the history of society, its spiritual and material culture (Benveniste, Trubachev, V.N. Toporov, Vyach. Sun. Ivanov, V.I. Abaev).

Second half of the 20th century characterized by the expansion of etymological research, the development of new methodological principles and new lexical materials, which resulted in the creation of numerous etymological dictionaries. An important stage in the development of etymology as a science is the creation of etymological dictionaries of Slavic languages, focused on the reconstruction and etymologization of the Proto-Slavic lexical fund (Slavsky, Trubachev) and served as the basis for the emergence of lexicology and lexicography of the Proto-Slavic language.

The most important etymological dictionaries:

• Abaev V.I., Historical and etymological dictionary of the Ossetian language, t. 1-3, M.-L., 1958-79;
• Български etymologichesky river, t. 1-3, Sofia, 1962-86(ed. continues);
• Klimov GA, Etymological Dictionary of the Kartvelian Languages, M., 1964;
• Lytkin IN AND., Gulyaev ES, Brief etymological dictionary of the Komi language, M., 1970;
• Acharyan R., Etymological Root Dictionary of the Armenian Language, Vol. 1-4, Er., 1971-79 (in Armenian);
• Illich-Svitych VM, Experience of comparing Nostratic languages, [vol. 1-3], M., 1971-1984;
• Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages, ed. ON Trubacheva, t. 1-15, M., 1974-88;
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