Etymological dictionary

An etymological dictionary discusses the etymology of the words listed. Often, large dictionaries, such as the Oxford English Dictionary and Webster's, will contain some etymological information, without aspiring to focus on etymology.[1]

Etymological dictionaries are the product of research in historical linguistics. For many words in any language, the etymology will be uncertain, disputed, or simply unknown. In such cases, depending on the space available, an etymological dictionary will present various suggestions and perhaps make a judgement on their likelihood, and provide references to a full discussion in specialist literature.

The tradition of compiling "derivations" of words is pre-modern, found for example in Sanskrit (nirukta), Arabic (al-ištiqāq) and also in Western tradition (in works such as the Etymologicum Magnum and Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae). Etymological dictionaries in the modern sense, however, appear only in the late 18th century (with 17th-century predecessors such as Vossius' 1662 Etymologicum linguae Latinae or Stephen Skinner's 1671 Etymologicon Linguae Anglicanae), with the understanding of sound laws and language change and their production was an important task of the "golden age of philology" in the 19th century.

Print[edit]

  • English
    • Robert K. Barnhart & Sol Steinmetz, eds. Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology. Bronx, NY: H. W. Wilson, 1988 (reprinted as Chambers Dictionary of Etymology).
    • Terry F. Hoad. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
    • Ernest Klein. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–67.
    • C.T. Onions, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
    • Eric Partridge, Origins: A short etymological dictionary of Modern English. New York: Greenwich House, 1958 (reprint: 1959, 1961, 1966, 2008).
  • Albanian
    • Kolec Topalli. Fjalor etimologjik i gjuhës shqipe. Durrës: Jozef, 2017.
    • Vladimir Orel. Albanian Etymological Dictionary. Leiden: Brill, 1998.
    • Eqrem Çabej. Studime etimologjike në fushë të shqipes. 7 vols. Tirana: Akademia et Shkencave e Republikës Popullore të Shqipërisë, Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë, 1976–2014.
  • Armenian
  • Breton
    • Albert Deshayes. Dictionnaire étymologique du breton. Douarnenez: Le Chasse-Marée, 2003.
  • Burji
    • Sasse, Hans-Jürgen. An Etymological Dictionary of Burji [Kuschitische Sprachstudien 1]. Hamburg: Buske, 1982. (ISBN 3871185612)
  • Chinese
    • Axel Schuessler. ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007.
  • Czech
    • Holub, J., Kopečný, F. Etymologický slovník jazyka českého. Prague: Státní nakladatelství učebnic (1952) [1933]
    • Machek, Václav. Etymologický slovník jazyka českého. Prague: NLN, Nakladatelství Lidové noviny (2010 [1971]) [1957]
    • Holub, J. & S. Lyer. Stručný etymologický slovník jazyka českého se zvláštním zřetelem k slovům kulturním a cizím. Prague: SPN (1992) [1967]
    • Rejzek, Jiří. Český etymologický slovník. Voznice: LEDA (2012 [2001])
  • Danish
    • Edwin Jessen (1893), Dansk etymologisk Ordbog (in Danish), Copenhagen: Gyldendal, Wikidata Q65525361
    • Jan Katlev, ed. (2000), Politikens Etymologisk Ordbog. Danske ords historie (in Danish), Copenhagen: Politikens Forlag, Wikidata Q110820320
  • Dutch
    • Marlies Philippa, Frans Debrabandere, A. Quak, T. Schoonheim, & Nicoline van der Sijs, eds. Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands (EWN). 4 vols. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2003–09.
    • Nicoline van der Sijs. Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd edn. Orig. by P.A.F. van Veen. Utrecht–Antwerp: Van Dale Lexicografie, 1997 (1st edn. 1989).
    • Jan de Vries. Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek (NEW), 4th edn. Leiden: Brill, 1997 (1st edn. 1971).
  • Finnish
  • French
    • Alain Rey, ed. Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 4th edn. 2 vols. Paris: Le Robert, 2016 (1st edn. 1992).
    • Emmanuèle Baumgartner & Philippe Ménard. Dictionnaire étymologique et historique de la langue française. Paris: Livre de Poche, 1996.
    • Jacqueline Picoche [fr]. Dictionnaire étymologique du français. Paris: Le Robert, 1971.
    • Albert Dauzat, Jean Dubois, & Henri Mitterand. Nouveau dictionnaire étymologique et historique, 2nd edn. Paris: Larousse, 1964 (1st edn. 1938).
    • Oscar Bloch & Walther von Wartburg. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 2nd edn. Paris: PUF, 1950 (1st edn. 1932).
    • Walther von Wartburg & Hans-Erich Keller, eds. Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch: Eine Darstellung des gallormanischen Sprachschatzes (FEW). 25 vols. Bonn: Klopp; Heidelberg: Carl Winter; Leipzig–Berlin: Teubner; Basel: R. G. Zbinden, 1922–67 (some vols. have since been revised).
  • German
    • Elmar Seebold, ed. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [ Etymological Dictionary of the German Language ], 26th edn. Originally by Friedrich Kluge. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2013 (1st edn. 1883).
    • Wolfgang Pfeifer, ed. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 7th edn. Munich: dtv, 2004 (1st edn., 1995).
    • Gunther Drosdowsi, Paul Grebe, et al., eds. Duden, Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache, 5th edn. Berlin: Duden, 2013.
    • Sabine Krome, ed. Wahrig, Herkunftswörterbuch, 5th edn. Originally by Ursula Hermann. Gütersloh–Munich: Wissenmedia, 2009.
  • Greek
    • Georgios Babiniotis. Ετυµολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [= Etymological Dictionary of the Modern Greek Language]. 2 vols. Athens: Κέντρο λεξικογραφίας, 2010.
      Ancient Greek
      • Rafał Rosół. Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2013.
      • Robert S. P. Beekes. Etymological Dictionary of Greek. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2010.
      • Pierre Chantraine. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: Histoire des mots, 2nd rev. edn. 2 vols. Revised by Jean Taillardat, Olivier Masson, & Jean-Louis Perpillou. Paris: Klincksieck, 2009 (2nd edn. 1994; 1st edn. 1968–80 in 4 vols.).
      • Hjalmar Frisk. Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 3 vols. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1960–72.
  • Gurage
    • Wolf Leslau. Etymological Dictionary of Gurage (Ethiopic). 3 vols. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1979. (ISBN 3-447-02041-5)
  • Harari
    • Wolf Leslau. Etymological dictionary of Harari. Berkely: University of Los Angeles, 1963.
  • Hittite
    • Alwin Kloekhorst. Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon. Leiden–Boston: Brill, 2008.
    • Jaan Puhvel. Hittite Etymological Dictionary. 10 vols. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1984–present.
  • Hungarian
    • Gábor Zaicz. Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’), 2nd edn. Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2021 (1st edn., 2006)
    • András Róna-Tas & Árpád Berta. West Old Turkic: Turkic Loanwords in Hungarian. 2 vols. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2011.
    • István Tótfalusi. Magyar etimológiai nagyszótár. Budapest: Arcanum Adatbázis, 2001.
  • Icelandic
  • Italian
    • Alberto Nocentini. L’Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana. With the collaboration of Alessandro Parenti. Milan: Mondadori, 2010.
    • Manlio Cortelazzo & Paolo Zolli. Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana (DELIN), 2nd edn. Bologna: Zanichelli, 2004 (1st edn. 5 vols., 1979–1988).
  • Latin
    • Michiel de Vaan. Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages. Leiden: Brill, 2008.
    • Alois Walde. Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd edn. 2 vols. Revised by Johann Baptist Hofmann. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1938–54 (1st edn. 1906).
    • Alfred Ernout & Antoine Meillet. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: Histoire des mots (DELL), 4th rev. edn. 2 vols. Revised by Jacques André. Paris: Klincksieck, 1985 (4th edn. 1959–60; 1st edn. 1932).
  • Latvian
    • Konstantīns Karulis. Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca. Rīga: Avots, 1992.
  • Lithuanian
    • Ernst Fraenkel, Annemarie Slupski, Erich Hofmann, & Eberhard Tangl, eds. Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (LitEW). 2 vols. Heidelberg: Carl Winter; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1962–65.
    • Wolfgang Hock et al. Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterburch (ALEW). 3 vols. Hamburg: Baar Verlag, 2015.
  • Old Church Slavonic
    • Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského (ESJS). 21 vols. Prague: Academia, 1989–2022. ISBN 80-200-0222-7.
  • Old Irish
  • Old Prussian
    • Vytautas Mažiulis. Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas, 2nd rev. edn. [= Etymological dictionary of Old Prussian]. Vilnius: Mokslas, 2013 (1st edn. 1988–1997).
  • Polish
    • Aleksander Brückner. Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego, 2nd edn. Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna, 1957 (reprint 2000; 1st edn. Kraków: Krakowska Spółka Wydawnicza, 1927).
    • Kazimierz Rymut. Nazwiska Polaków: słownik historyczno-etymologiczny. 2 vols. Kraków: Wydawn. Instytutu Języka Polskiego PAN, 1999/2001.
    • Andrzej Bańkowski. Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego. 2 vols. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN; Częstochowa: Linguard, 2000 (incomplete).
    • Krystyna Długosz-Kurczabowa. Nowy słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 2003.
    • Wiesław Boryś. Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2005.
    • Izabela Malmor. Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego. Warsaw: ParkEdukacja, 2009.
  • Portuguese
    • José Pedro Machado. Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 3rd edn. 5 vols. Lisbon: Livros Horizonte, 1977 (1st edn. 1952).
    • Antonio Geraldo da Cunha. Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th edn. Revised by Cláudio Mello Sobrinho. Rio de Janeiro: FAPERJ/Lexikon, 2010 (1st edn. 1982).
  • Russian
    • Vladimir Orel. Russian Etymological Dictionary. 4 vols. Edited by Vitaly Shevoroshkin & Cindy Drover-Davidson. Calgary, Canada: Octavia Press (vols. 1–3) & Theophania Publishing (vol. 4), 2007–2011.
    • Terence Wade. Russian Etymological Dictionary. Bristol: Bristol Classical Press, 1996.
    • Pavel Yakovlevich Chernykh. Историко-этимологический словарь современного русского языка [= Historical and etymological dictionary of modern Russian language]. 2 vols. Moscow: Русский язык. 1993.
    • Max Vasmer. Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 3 vols. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1953–58. (Translated into Russian and expanded by Oleg Trubachov, Этимологический словарь русского языка. 4 vols. Moscow: Прогресс, 1959–1961.)
  • Sanskrit
    • Manfred Mayrhofer. Kurzgefaßtes etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen (KEWA). 3 vols. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1956–1976.
    • Manfred Mayrhofer. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen (EWAia). 3 vols. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1992/1998/2001.
  • Sardinian
    • Max Leopold Wagner. Dizionario etimologico sardo (DES). 2 vols. Revised by Giulio Paulis. Nuoro: Ilisso, 2008 (1st edn. 3 vols., Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1960–4).
    • Massimo Pittau. Dizionario della lingua sarda fraseologico ed etimologico (DILS). 2 vols. Cagliari: E. Gasperini, 2000–03.
  • Scots
    • John Jamieson, An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808), revised 1879–97.
  • Serbo-Croatian
    • Petar Skok. Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika [Etymological Dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian Language]. 4 vols. Zagreb: Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, 1971–4.
    • Alemko Gluhak. Hrvatski etimološki rječnik. Zagreb: August Cesarec, 1993.
    • Vojmir Vinja. Jadranske etimologije. Jadranske dopune Skokovu etimologijskom rječniku [Adriatic Etymologies. Adriatic Addenda to Skok's Etymological Dictionary]. 4 vols. Zagreb: HAZU, Školska knjiga, 1998–2016.
    • Aleksandar Loma, ed. Етимолошки речник српског језика. 4 vols. (А–Бљ). Beograd: Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, 2003–.
    • Ranko Matasović, Tijmen Pronk, Dubravka Ivšić, Dunja Brozović Rončević. Etimološki rječnik hrvatskoga jezika. 2 vols. Zagreb: Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje, 2016–21.
  • Slovene
  • Spanish
    • Joan Corominas. Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (DCECH). 6 vols. Madrid: Gredos, 1980–91 (ISBN 84-249-1362-0)
    • Guido Gómez de Silva. Elsevier's Concise Spanish Etymological Dictionary. Amsterdam–NY: Elsevier Sciences, 1985. (ISBN 968-16-2812-8)
    • Michel Bénaben. Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol. Paris: Ellipses, 2000.
    • Edward A. Roberts. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words Based on Indo-European Roots, 2 vols. (vol. 1: A-G; 2: H-Z). Self-published, Xlibris, 2014.[self-published source]
  • Swedish
  • Turkish
    • Sevan Nişanyan. Sözlerin soyağacı: çağdaş Türkçenin etimolojik sözlüğü. Beyoğlu (Istanbul): Adam, 2002.
    • Gerard Leslie Makins Clauson. An Etymological Dictionary of Pre-Thirteenth-Century Turkish. London: Oxford University Press, 1972.

Language families[edit]

Online[edit]

Indo-European languages[edit]

  • [1] – Croatian Language Portal (Hrvatski jezični portal), etymologies by Ranko Matasović
  • [2] – An Online Etymological Dictionary of the English language compiled by Douglas Harper
  • [3] – Ancient Greek Etymological Dictionary by H. Frisk
  • [4] – An Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon by Alwin Kloekhorst
  • [5] – Indo-European Etymological Dictionary by S. A. Starostin et al.
  • [6] – Gaelic Etymological Dictionary by A. MacBain
  • [7] – Gothic Etymological Dictionary by Andras Rajki
  • [8] – Hungarian etymological dictionary (Új magyar etimológiai szótár)
  • [9] – Nepali Etymological Dictionary by R. L. Turner
  • [10] – Romanian Etymological Dictionary
  • [11] – Russian Etymological Dictionary by Max Vasmer, Heidelberg (1962), 4 volumes
  • [12] – Slovenian Etymological Dictionary (Slovenski etimološki slovar) by Marko Snoj
  • [13] – Swedish Etymological Dictionary by Elof Hellquist

Afroasiatic languages[edit]

  • [14] – Afroasiatic Etymological Dictionary by S. A. Starostin et al.
  • [15] – Arabic Etymological Dictionary by Alphaya, LTD
  • [16] – Arabic Etymological Dictionary by Andras Rajki
  • [17] – Hebrew Etymological Dictionary by Ernest Klein

Altaic languages[edit]

  • [18]Altaic Etymological Dictionary by S. A. Starostin et al.
  • [19] – Chuvash Etymological Dictionary by M. R. Fedotov
  • [20] – Gagauz Etymological Dictionary
  • [21] – Mongolian Etymological Dictionary
  • [22] – Turkish Etymological Dictionary by Sevan Nişanyan "Sözlerin Soyağacı – Çağdaş Türkçe'nin Etimolojik Sözlüğü" (Third ed. Adam Y. Istanbul 2007)

Austronesian languages[edit]

  • [23] – Austronesian Comparative Dictionary by R. A. Blust
  • [24] – Indonesian Etymological Dictionary by S. M. Zain
  • [25] – Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary by E. Tregear
  • [26] – A Concise Waray Dictionary (Waray-Waray, Leytese-Samarese) with etymologies and Bicol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan and Tagalog cognates

Bantu languages[edit]

  • [27] – Bantu Etymological Dictionary
  • [28] – Swahili Etymological Dictionary
  • [29] – Swahili Etymological Dictionary by World Loanword Database

Creole languages and conlangs[edit]

  • [30] – Bislama Dictionary with etymologies by Andras Rajki
  • [31] – Esperanto Etymological Dictionary
  • [32] – Morisyen Etymological Dictionary
  • [33] – Volapük Dictionary

Uralic languages[edit]

Other languages and language families[edit]

  • [40] – Etymological Dictionary of Basque by R. L. Trask
  • [41] – Basque Etymological Dictionary
  • [42] – Dravidian Etymological Dictionary by T. Burrow
  • [43] – Kartvelian Etymological Dictionary by G. A. Klimov
  • [44] – Mayan Etymological Dictionary by T. Kaufman and J. Justeson
  • [45] – Mon-Khmer Etymological Dictionary by D. Cooper and P. J. Sidwell
  • [46] – Munda Etymological Dictionary by D. Cooper
  • [47] – Munda Etymological Dictionary by D. Stampe et al.
  • [48] – North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary by S. A. Starostin et al.
  • [49]Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus by J. A. Matisoff
  • [50] – Thai Etymological Dictionary by M. Haas

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Dickson, Andrew (23 February 2018). "Inside the OED: Can the world's biggest dictionary survive the internet?". The Guardian.

External links[edit]