Etymology

The word etymology derives from the Ancient Greek word ἐτυμολογία (ἐτυμολογία), itself from ἔτυμον (ἔτυμον), meaning 'true sense or sense of a truth', and the suffix -logia, denoting 'the study or logic of'.^[4][5]

The term etymon refers to the predicate (ie. stem^[6] or root^[7]) from which a later word or morpheme derives.

For example, the Latin word candidus, which means 'white', is the etymon of English candid.

Relationships are often less transparent, however.

English place names such as Winchester, Gloucester, Tadcaster share in different modern forms a suffixed etymon that was once meaningful, Latin castrum 'fort'.

Diagram showing relationships between etymologically related words