Etymology

Etymology ( ɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi ) is the study of the history of words. By extension, the phrase "the etymology of [a word]" means the origin of a particular word. For place names, there is a specific term, toponymy. The word etymology derives from the Greek word ἐτυμολογία (etumología), itself from ἔτυμον (étumon), meaning "true sense or sense of a truth", and the suffix -logia, denoting "the study of".