semantics

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromσημαντικός
2. English todaysemantics

From French sémantique + English -s, displacing earlier semasiology. The French is a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek σημαντικός (sēmantikós); see semantic. By surface analysis, semantic + -ics or semantic + -s.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• 1893 A branch of linguistics studying the meaning of words.