Standard Lemma guide

etymon

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈɛt.ɪ.mɒn/
  • UK: /ˈɛt.ə.mɒn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈɛt.ə.mɑn/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The original or earlier form of an inherited or borrowed word, affix, or morpheme either from an earlier period in a language's development, from an ancestral language, or from a foreign language.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ancestor, etym

Antonyms: derivative, reflex

2

noun

Meaning 2

a simple form inferred as the common basis from which related words in several languages can be derived by linguistic processes

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: root

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: form, word form, signifier, descriptor

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *set-? Ancient Greek ἐτεός (eteós)der.? Ancient Greek ἔτῠμος (étŭmos) Ancient Greek ἔτῠμον (étŭmon)bor. English etymon From Ancient Greek ἔτυμον (étumon, “the true sense of a word according to its origin”), from ἔτυμος (étumos, “true, real, actual”).

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: أَثَلَة (ʔaṯala) — ancestral form or source word
  • Armenian: բնիմաստ (bnimast) — ancestral form or source word
  • Armenian: էտիմոն (ētimon) — ancestral form or source word
  • Asturian: étimu — ancestral form or source word
  • Bulgarian: етимо́н (etimón) — ancestral form or source word
  • Catalan: ètim — ancestral form or source word
  • Chinese Mandarin: 字根 (zìgēn) — ancestral form or source word
  • Czech: etymon — ancestral form or source word
  • Danish: stamord — ancestral form or source word
  • Danish: etymon — ancestral form or source word
  • Dutch: etymon — ancestral form or source word
  • Finnish: lähdesana — ancestral form or source word
  • Finnish: kantasana — ancestral form or source word
  • Finnish: sanajuuri — ancestral form or source word
  • French: étymon — ancestral form or source word
  • German: Etymon — ancestral form or source word
  • Greek: έτυμο (étymo) — ancestral form or source word
  • Hungarian: etimon — ancestral form or source word
  • Interlingua: etymo — ancestral form or source word
  • Italian: etimo — ancestral form or source word
  • Neapolitan: ètimu — ancestral form or source word
  • Norwegian Bokmål: stamord — ancestral form or source word
  • Norwegian Bokmål: etymon — ancestral form or source word
  • Polish: etymon — ancestral form or source word
  • Portuguese: étimo — ancestral form or source word
  • Russian: этимо́н (etimón) — ancestral form or source word
  • Sicilian: ètimu — ancestral form or source word
  • Spanish: étimo — ancestral form or source word
  • Swedish: stamord — ancestral form or source word
  • Welsh: gwreiddair — ancestral form or source word