Meanings
nounetymologist (plural etymologists)
plural etymologists
- A lexicographer or linguist who specializes in etymology (the origins of words).
This was the first time that James had met with one of the bogus etymologists common at that period, who believed that the derivation of a word could be solved by finding any foreign word that sounded something like it.
1977, K.M. Elizabeth Murray, Caught in the Web of Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 53
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*set-?
- Ancient Greekἐτεός (eteós)der.?
- Ancient Greekἔτυμος (étumos)
- Proto-Indo-European*leǵ-
- Proto-Indo-European*lóǵos
- Proto-Hellenic*lógos
- Ancient Greekλόγος (lógos)
- Ancient Greekἐτῠμόλογος (etŭmólogos)
- Ancient Greekἐτῠμολογῐ́ᾱ (etŭmologĭ́ā)
- Latinetymologia
- Old Frenchethimologie
- Middle Englishethymologie
- Englishetymology
- Englishetymologist
From etymology + -ist. By surface analysis, etymo- + -logist.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian етимолог
- етимолог (etimolog)person who specializes in etymology
Catalan etimòleg, etimòloga
- etimòlegperson who specializes in etymology
- etimòlogaperson who specializes in etymology
- etimologistaperson who specializes in etymology
Chinese Mandarin 詞源學家 /词源学家
- 詞源學家 /词源学家person who specializes in etymology
Czech etymolog
- etymologperson who specializes in etymology
Danish etymolog
- etymologperson who specializes in etymology
Finnish etymologi
- etymologiperson who specializes in etymology
French étymologiste, étymologue
- étymologisteperson who specializes in etymology
- étymologueperson who specializes in etymology
German Etymologe
- Etymologeperson who specializes in etymology
Greek ετυμολόγος
- ετυμολόγος (etymológos)person who specializes in etymology
Hungarian etimológus
- etimológusperson who specializes in etymology
Icelandic orðsifjafræðingur
- orðsifjafræðingurperson who specializes in etymology
Italian etimologista, etimologo
- etimologistaperson who specializes in etymology
- etimologoperson who specializes in etymology
- etimologaperson who specializes in etymology
Korean 어원학자
- 어원학자 (eowonhakja)person who specializes in etymology
Latin etymologus, etymologos
- etymologusperson who specializes in etymology
- etymologosperson who specializes in etymology
Latvian etimologs, etimoloģe
- etimologsperson who specializes in etymology
- etimoloģeperson who specializes in etymology
Norwegian Bokmål etymolog
- etymologperson who specializes in etymology
Polish etymolog, etymolożka
- etymologperson who specializes in etymology
- etymolożkaperson who specializes in etymology
Portuguese etimólogo, etimologista
- etimólogoperson who specializes in etymology
- etimologistaperson who specializes in etymology
Romanian etimolog, etimologist
- etimologperson who specializes in etymology
- etimologistperson who specializes in etymology
Russian этимо́лог
- этимо́лог (etimólog)person who specializes in etymology
Slovak etymológ, etymologička
- etymológperson who specializes in etymology
- etymologičkaperson who specializes in etymology
Spanish etimologista, etimólogo
- etimologistaperson who specializes in etymology
- etimólogoperson who specializes in etymology
Swedish etymolog
- etymologperson who specializes in etymology
Turkish etimolog
- etimologperson who specializes in etymology
Ukrainian етимо́лог
- етимо́лог (etymóloh)person who specializes in etymology
Cite this entry
APA
etymologist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/etymologist
MLA
“etymologist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/etymologist. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “etymologist,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/etymologist.
Source: etymologist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.