NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. et·y·mol·o·gies
1. The origin and historical development of a linguistic form as shown by determining its basic elements, earliest known use, and changes in form and meaning, tracing its transmission from one language to another, identifying its cognates in other languages, and reconstructing its ancestral form where possible. 2. The branch of linguistics that deals with etymologies.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English etimologie, from Old French ethimologie, from Medieval Latin ethimologia, from Latin etymologia, from Greek etumologi : etumon, true sense of a word; see etymon + -logi, -logy. ETYMON
NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. et·y·mons or et·y·ma (-m)
1. An earlier form of a word in the same language or in an ancestor language. For example, Indo-European *duwo and Old English tw are etymons of Modern English two. 2. A word or morpheme from which compounds and derivatives are formed. 3. A foreign word from which a particular loan word is derived. For example, Latin duo, “two,” is an etymon of English duodecimal.
ETYMOLOGY: Latin, from Greek etumon, true sense of a word, from neuter of etumos, true. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2000)
For this speech, you will research, explore and imagine the history and meaning surrounding a single English word. Rhetorically, this is an exercise in unity, since your entire speech will be held together at the center by your one word. You must include the authentic etymology of your word (or the various claims if its etymology is disputed), and you must include some denotation, connotation, or association beyond the authentic etymology that includes a personal connection. You may also wish to include folk or false etymologies as part of your development. The main focus is up to you: some speeches will be mainly about