Etymology

The chronological development and history of a word. We can use the word itself as an example: It derives from the Middle English ‘etimologie’ from Old French ‘ethimologie’ from Medieval Latin 'ethimologia' from Latin 'etymologia' and from the Greek 'etumologiā' and 'etumon' (true sense of a word): etymon -logiā -logy. From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.