etymologist:
(plural: ‘etymologists‘; pronunciation; the letter ‘g’ is said with a ‘j’ sound as in ‘judge’; for the right pronunciation of this word, please click here)
Michael Quinion, etymologist (http://www.worldwideword)
a person who studies and knows about etymology;
a lexicographer who specialised in etymology;
a linguist who is an expert in languages,
P.N. Oak, etymologist & writer
The field of etymology and the occupation of an etymologist seem very interesting to a layperson, but the more he/she indulges in them the more he/she is intrigued.
The importance of an etymologist is not well realised by common man, because people use a word or a phrase as long as a new word or phrase replaces it and, as language changes over long periods of time, people tend to forget when a word came into being and when it became absolute!
Some people claim that etymologists usually make matters worst instead of clearing them, for example, the conflict over the word ‘squaw’ in the USA, which resulted in group arguments in certain areas and in deliberate removal of the word from some place names.
[For an article that speaks of etymology and how words have taken shape over the years, please click here, and, remember that this article has a high level of vocabulary that may be difficult to understand for beginners, and in that case, please ignore this article… we can get back to this one when we are ready, and for a humorous article that discusses the probable origin of the phrase ‘bee’s knees’, please click here!]
