PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD
ALL SOURCES ↗BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYmw-etymological
SOURCE
RECORD.
One work. Every claim that depends on it. No citation without a consequence you can inspect.
18 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.
This count excludes duplicate dossier-path citations. Open the claims below to see exactly how the source is used.
historical dictionarymw-etymological
Etymological — Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary
- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
- DOI
- Not recorded
- SOURCE TYPE
- historical dictionary
- EXTERNAL RECORD
- OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
011
CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS
RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
RANK 86GRADE Acontext
Origin does not get the last word.
Calling something “etymological” describes its historical analysis; it does not make an obsolete sense more correct than a word’s established current meaning.
*set-u-
*set-u- → *setu-mo- → ἔτυμος → ἐτυμολογία → ἐτυμολογικός → etymologicus → etymological
Current definition and Word HistoryDocuments the adjective and its learned formation.
etymological dossier ↗truth record ↗86UNVEILING
023
SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT
DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
opensupportsprobable
How was English etymological formed?
Merriam-Webster analyzes etymologic from Latin etymologicus and etymological as etymologic + -al; Etymonline analyzes etymology + -ical.
Word History: etymologic + -al; etymologic from Latin etymologicusPublishes the Latin-adjective-plus-English-suffix analysis.
opensupportsprobable
Does the English record begin in 1588 or the 1590s?
The reports differ slightly: Merriam-Webster gives 1588 and Etymonline gives the 1590s. Neither date proves the word was coined then.
First Known Use: 1588Publishes the exact-year horizon.
opensupportsboundary
Can the Greek-to-Latin adjective transfer be dated to one event?
Not from the reviewed sources. Merriam-Webster establishes Greek etymologikos behind Latin etymologicus, while CNRTL documents late Latin use in Diomedes; neither identifies one precisely dated borrowing event.
Word History: Latin from Greek etymologikosEstablishes the donor chain but gives no one transfer date.
034
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS
EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
EDGE 580supportsestablished
etymologicus → ἐτυμολογικός
Latin → Ancient Greek · borrowing
- SOUND
- Latin etymologicus adapted Greek etymologikos within learned grammatical vocabulary.
- MEANING
- The adjective retained the sense of belonging to or based on etymology.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Word History: Latin etymologicus from Greek etymologikosSupplies the Greek-to-Latin learned borrowing chain.
EDGE 581supportsestablished
ἐτυμολογικός → ἐτυμολογία
Ancient Greek → Ancient Greek · derivation
- SOUND
- Greek ἐτυμολογικός adds the adjectival suffix -ικός to ἐτυμολογία.
- MEANING
- The name of an inquiry becomes an adjective meaning belonging to or based on that inquiry.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Word History: Greek etymologikos from etymologia + -ikosExplicitly supplies the noun-plus-suffix analysis.
EDGE 586supportsprobable
etymological → etymologicus
Present-Day English → Latin · learned formation
- SOUND
- English drops Latin -us through the learned adjective etymologic and adds adjectival -al; a competing internal etymology + -ical analysis remains visible in the graph.
- MEANING
- A Latin adjective about word origins becomes the English adjective of relation or conformity.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Word History: etymological from etymologic + -al; etymologic from Latin etymologicusSupplies the preferred learned-formation analysis and Latin base.
EDGE 608supportsestablished
etymological → -al
Present-Day English → Present-Day English · derivational component
- SOUND
- The English adjective ends in productive -al under Merriam-Webster’s segmentation.
- MEANING
- The suffix marks relation or pertinence.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Word History: etymologic + -alExplicitly identifies the English -al component.
041
LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS
WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE
etymologicalSOURCE-REPORTED
etymological
Merriam-Webster first-known-use report for etymological
OPEN WITNESS 148 ↗055
COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE
COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES
etymologic
Englishlearned adjective beneath the Merriam-Webster formation analysis
etymologically
Englishadverb in the same modern family
etymological
Englishadjective in the same technical family
etymological
Englishparallel learned adjective from the same Latin and Greek chain
ἐτυμολογία
Ancient Greeknoun from which the Greek adjective is derived
064
GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS
JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
stage 1supports
Ancient Greek and Latin learned tradition
Names the learned donor chain while leaving a unique transfer event undated.
Word History: Latin etymologicus from Greek etymologikos · broadstage 2supports
Early Modern England
Supplies the earliest reviewed exact-year report.
First Known Use: 1588 · regionalstage 3supports
Global English
Documents the adjective’s current scope.
Current definition · globalstage 1supports
Ancient Greek learned tradition
Names the Greek stage while leaving its exact journey date and place unstated.
Word History: Greek etymologikos · broad070
NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
083
WORD-FAMILY REUSE
DOSSIERS THAT DEPEND ON THIS SOURCE
5 entry-scoped citations map reviewed dossier paths onto the canonical claims above.