Posted by Donna on June 10, 1999 at 04:50:53:
Dear John,
Thanks for the tip Swissfamily! (sounds better than John) I didn't know about the on-line dictionary. And you're right, it says:
"(ETYMOLOGY): 1 : the history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language
2 : a branch of linguistics concerned with etymologies"
What a mouthful! So that's a helluva subject for the BBS board I would think. And a subject which few people would be able to contribute to (unless they're right into linguistics). Having said that, I 'spose you'll all pop up and say, "I know all about it!" just to prove me wrong. Anyway, I'm afraid I can't contribute to the etymology theme, sorry. Except that it should definitely should not be confused with the study of insects! mmwwah Donna