GRE Word List

ETYMOLOGY

the history of a linguistic form (such 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

The meaning of the word etymology is the history of a linguistic form (such 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.

Random words

WordMeaning
evanescenttending to vanish like vapor
pedigreea register recording a line of ancestors
composta mixture that consists largely of decayed organic matter and is used for fertilizing and conditioning land
contagiona contagious disease
groovea long narrow channel or depression
acclaimapplaud
sheafa quantity of the stalks and ears of a cereal grass or sometimes other plant material bound together
monographa learned treatise on a small area of learning
blemishto spoil by a flaw
extenuateto lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of (something, such as a fault or offense) by making partial excuses : mitigate