etymology

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.

Adam Aleksic, a linguist who posts online as Etymology Nerd, says locking in's origins aren't certain but its use appears to have begun in the early 2000s - particularly in the African American community.

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2025

Etymology is the study of how the root of a particular word entered a language and how the use of the word evolved over time.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

Etymology of Mushroom.—In the sixteenth century this word appears generally to have been spelt Mushrump.

From Notes and Queries, Number 70, March 1, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Bell, George

A large, handsome volume of 1854 pages, containing considerably more than 100,000 Words in its Vocabulary, with the Correct Pronunciation, Definition, and Etymology.

From Too Rich A Romance by Streckfuss, Adolph

It would be, on the contrary, a fact precisely corresponding with the actual and well-known transmutability of speech-sounds into each other as occurs in the phenomena of Etymology and Comparative Philology.

From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 5, May, 1864 Devoted To Literature And National Policy by Various