Etymonline, or ''Online Etymology Dictionary'', sometimes abbreviated as OED (not to be confused with the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'', which the site often cites), is a free

online dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for logographic languages), which may include info ...

that describes the

origins Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

of English

word A word is a basic element of language that carries semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguist ...

s, written and compiled by Douglas R. Harper.

Description

Douglas R. Harper is an

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

historian and copy editor for LNP Media Group. He compiled the etymology dictionary to record the history and evolution of more than 50,000 words, including slang and technical terms. The core of its etymology information stems from ''The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology'' by

Robert Barnhart Robert K. Barnhart (1933 – April 2007) was an American lexicographer and editor of various specialized dictionaries. He was co-editor, with his father Clarence Barnhart, on some editions of the '' Thorndike-Barnhart'' dictionaries and ''The Wor ...

Ernest Klein Ernest David Klein, (July 26, 1899, Szatmárnémeti – February 4, 1983, Ottawa, Canada) was a Hungarian-born Romanian-Canadian linguist, author, and rabbi. Early life and education Klein was born to father Yitzchok (Ignac) and mother Sara ...

's ''Comprehensive Etymology Dictionary of the English Language'', ''The Middle English Compendium'', '' The Oxford English Dictionary'', and the 1889–1902 ''

Century Dictionary ''The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia'' is one of the largest encyclopedic dictionaries of the English language. It was compared favorably with the ''Oxford English Dictionary,'' and frequently consulted for more factual information than woul ...

''. Harper also researches on digital archives. On the ''Etymonline'' homepage, Harper says that he considers himself "essentially and for the most part" a compiler and evaluator of etymology research made by others.

Reviews and reputation

The ''Online Etymology Dictionary'' has been cited by

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

's "Arts and Humanities Community Resource" catalog as "an excellent tool for those seeking the origins of words". It was also cited in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' as one of the "best resources for finding just the right word". It is cited in academic work as a useful reference for etymology. In addition, it has been used as a data source for quantitative scholarly research.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.etymonline.com/ Etymological dictionaries English etymology Online English dictionaries Internet properties established in 2000