Etymology is the study of the origins of names and words. It usually revolves around the origins of words, which means that if you’re an Etymologist and somebody tries to be funny by saying, “But why is blank called blank?”, you can take the question seriously and slightly embarrass the person who asked.
If you’re trying to get into Etymology, remember these things:
The Greeks and Romans are responsible for most words in the English language; there are also words from other cultures and languages that come into play- however, they are not as major as the Greeks and Romans. Here are a couple of other things to remember:
English is really just a bunch of languages pretending to be one. Don’t get frustrated when things don’t make sense, as you will eventually find out why a particular word you’ve been struggling with doesn’t make any sense.
Remember, you don’t have to be serious with the words you choose to analyse. You can find the origins of words like skedonk, or antidisestablishmentarianism or, if you’re up for a challenge, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
Antonyms (names that strangely fit) and inantonyms (names that ironically don’t fit) are really fun, so I recommend starting with those. Examples of antonyms include the fact that the fastest man alive is Usain Bolt and how there is a judge named Igor Judge.
Now that you got that in mind, here are some Etymological facts:
- “-ia” means ‘the land of’, and it appears in the Latin names of countries, such as Brittania, Hispania, Hungaria and many others. It also appears in the English names of many countries, such as Bulgaria.
- All days of the week (except Sunday and Monday) are named after mythological figures.
- The name ‘Pacific Ocean’ is an inantonym as “pacific” means peaceful, and the Pacific ocean is known for not having very peaceful waters.
- Iceland got its name because the person who discovered it landed in an icy part of the island and was feeling very pessimistic as his daughter and cattle had died.
- The word “Etymology” comes from the Greek word ‘etymon’ which means ‘the literal meaning of a word according to its origin’.
This brings our short paddle in the ocean of Etymology to an end. Unlike Vexillology, there are no rules or guidelines for Etymology; it can be a fun little hobby or your job. Either way, it is a surprisingly interesting topic to explore- so just have fun with it!
