Etymological Theory

Etymology Defined
 Derived from Greek etumologia.
 Etumon (true sense)
 Logia (study)
 A study of the history of words, their origins
and how their meaning and form changed over
time.
Methods of finding the etymology of a
word

 Philological Research
 Making use of Dialectological Data
 The Comparative Method
 The Study of Semantic Change
 Etymology in Mythology
 It can be said that words or names that are
brought about by stories of myths come from
some certain origins.
 Though some words or names have their
meanings earlier before such stories are told,
the meaning of these words or names change
thru the stories told.
 Some words or names with their etymology
and meaning
 Europe (EUROPA) – Greek meaning “Land of
the Setting Sun” or West.
 Daphne – Greek meaning “laurel leaf”
 Cassandra – Greek meaning “to shine upon
man”
 Narcissistic – from the name Narcissus. Greek
meaning “sleep or numbness”