Language of the Day: Etymology
The Language of the Day Blog is a weekly blog post by our instructor. Each week will introduce a useful phrase in English and tell a story about life in Vancouver. Tune in every Tuesday for another Language of the Day post!
Etymology: the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.
Examples:
The etymology of most medical terms can be found in the Latin language.
In my etymology class, we learned how to trace words back to their roots.
This is a fancy word for you, not the most practical for conversation, but it’s valuable if you want to dig deeper into your vocabulary and speak English more fluently.
So what is etymology? Well, imagine you traced your family tree; you may find roots that come from another city, or country, or way of life. The things you find out might surprise you or give you a better understanding of the people in your family. Words are the same. Like everything else, they came from somewhere.
Etymology is what gives words their feeling. It’s why cursing in another language feels so much more removed than cursing in your own.
Tracing these word connections can lead you to new understanding. You will find other words in the family, you will find the languages the words existed in before English, and you will find the story of the word’s meaning through time.
Once you have explored an English word’s history, you form a connection in your brain. This information can then let you use words with depth and feeling, just like you do in you first language.
A study tip I give my students is to google a new vocabulary word plus the word ‘etymology’ and see what you can learn about it. Have you learned a new word lately that you’re curious about? Why not try this out today?