etymologist

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In 1934, Allen Walker Read, an etymologist and lexicographer, laid out the history of the word that, then, had “the deepest stigma of any in the language.”

From New York Times • Apr. 30, 2021

The word came into English as “empechen” by way of the Old French word empechier, meaning to prevent or to hinder, according to the British etymologist Michael Quinion.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 18, 2019

I asked the Journal’s resident etymologist, columnist Ben Zimmer, about the earliest use of the term “echo chamber” in its modern sense.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2016

It’s often impossible to definitively determine a phrase’s linguistic birthplace, but based on the digging of etymologist Barry Popik, the phrase seems to have originated in the graffiti community of Oakland, California.

From Slate

The public would have been grateful to Johnson, had he united in his dictionary the labours of some learned etymologist.

From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Disraeli, Isaac