Questions tagged [etymology]
The etymology tag has no usage guidance.
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Why do my questions on the etymology of idioms get closed, yet this one was accepted?: What is the origin of "out of sight" or "outa sight" i?
Every question I have asked about the etymology of an idiom gets pulled. Yet I found this one that stayed up. It's espcially irritating because sometimes before my question gets closed, I have ...
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What alternatives to Google are there for searching for examples of phrases in old texts? [duplicate]
I have used Google for many years, to search for phrases such as "party to the scene", but I have never used any other computerized databases.
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Etymology of words in translations
Maybe this should be in linguistics but I'll try here...
I have had this idea for a long time but productivity has never been part of my character. I'll take full credit of the idea and I am willing ...
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I want to study the various usages of the 17th and 16th century verb "atone". Other than oed.com, where can I study this verb and adverb?
I'm looking specifically for works that discuss the sense of a cessation of quarrels as found in oed.com's definition for the verb "atone":
1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions ...
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For any word, see constituent roots; for any root, see composite words
Definition lookup in Google will show the origin or etymology of a word, usually based on root. Is there an application, web or otherwise, that returns composite words for any given root?
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How can I improve my contributions
I'm not looking for general recommendations, but specific criticism due to the recent deletion of a comment.
In a Question about the Etymology of *Cervix Why was my comment about the neck and uterus ...
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Why are etymology questions that show research getting/staying closed?
I noticed that the community doesn't really agree with itself on the subject of what's on topic and off topic when it comes to the amount of research needed. I'm seeing this on questions that would ...
LaurelMod
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free online etymological dictionary with good coverage of details [duplicate]
Currently I use www.etymonline.com but this reference does not show details. For example prefix pro- in the meaning of "in place of" comes from Latin prō- (and not pro-)
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List of words with the dates they first appear in English?
I'm interested in finding a (quite comprehensive) list of words, from which I can extract the dates of first appearance in English. This is so that I can be a /little/ more historically accurate in ...
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Best book for vocabulary building through etymology
Could you hint the best etymology book?
I'd like to learn new words via their origin.
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How useful are Ngrams in exploring English? (The case of "fit down") [duplicate]
I've noticed that Ngrams feature quite often in threads I've been involved with (I've used it myself) but, allowing that the Ngram program can be useful, how cautious should we be in using it?
An ...
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Is there a site that you can search for words of the same root/origin of the word you enter?
I'm currently using Online Etymology Dictionary, it mostly tells me how the word evolve from its ancient form to how it looks in modern times rather than tells me other words stemming from the same ...
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Would this question have been off-topic here?
I just posted a question about English etymology in Linguistics SE.
I was contemplating whether to post it here, but decided against it.
Could I have posted it here, or would it have been off-topic?
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Is there an online etymology dictionary more comprehensive/detailed than Etymonline?
Douglas Harper, creator of Etymonline, considers himself an amateur linguist and warns
... if you're a professional linguist or a serious student of linguistics,
you shouldn't be doing your homework ...
user122427
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Is the history/etymology of names appropriate?
I asked a question about the history of names. The question text is asking about the origin of a practice of family names or surnames. There is some contention as to whether this question is on topic ...
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Word Frequency on the Web
I was wondering if anyone is aware of a similar service to Google Ngram for words used on the web.
To clarify, I'm not looking for the frequency of search terms used on the web (i.e.Google Trends) ...
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What does the word "mortarboard" mean, as it relates to an SE badge?
I like the creative names on SE badges, but a couple of them went over my head. What is "mortarboard"?
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What is the General Reference qualification for questions on word or phrase origin?
Piggy backing off of "How important is a word origin?", what level of an etymology question is safe to close as general reference?
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What's the difference between "word origin" and "etymology"? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Do questions asking for the origin of a word and the etymology of a word ask different things?
I see in this boards two tags:
word-origin
etymology
What is the ...
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Do questions asking for the origin of a word and the etymology of a word ask different things?
Is a question about the etymology of a word asking for its origin? Is a question about the origin of a word asking for its etymology?
As I understand it, the origin of a word could be the point from ...
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