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Etymologies of English Words

(with particular attention to grammatical terms)

Understanding the original meaning of words, and how they came to be so expressed in their original tongues, assists us in comprehending the connections between their original connotations and their current ones.

For example, take the word etymology itself. From ἔτυμος, true : λόγος, meaning, hence etymology is the science of the true, or original, meaning of words.

English Word Origin Meaning Notes
ANACOLUTHON ἀ, negative, + ἀκολουθέω, I follow “It does not follow.” A break in the construction of a sentence, where a clause is left unfinished, and one of a new construction begun. Very common in Paul’s letters.
ANOMALY ἀ, negative, + ὁμαλός, level A construction which does not conform to the rule.  
ARCHAISM ἀρχαῖος An expression belonging to an ancient form of any language  
DIPHTHONG δι, twice + φθόγγος, sound Two vowel sounds produced as one, e.g. ‘Caesar’  
ETYMOLOGY ἔτυμος, true, + λόγος, meaning the science of the true, or original, meaning of words.  
EUPHONY εὖ, well, + φονή, sound That which sounds well. Many of the varying forms of words are due to the fact that certain combinations of letters were not easy to pronounce and so were modified for the sake of euphony.  
IDIOM ἴδιος, private, peculiar A mode of expression peculiar to a language.  
PARENTHESIS παρά, beside + ἔνθεσις, insertion A word or phrase inserted in another phrase yet not grammatically connected with it.  
SYNECDOCHE σύν, with + ἐκδόχη, from verb ἐκδέχομαι, to take from another taking one thing together with another, hence a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa  

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