字自己的過去
這是核心畫面本身：某一個字從哪裡來、以前是什麼意思。
noun · C1
The real past of one particular word: where it came from and what it meant before. Two words that look the same can have completely different etymologies.
字的來歷
核心畫面
One way to hold this word: every word you say has a past life. It started somewhere, in some language, meaning something a little different, and it has been passed from mouth to mouth ever since. That past life is the thing itself. From there, two other uses grow: the work of digging the past up, and the short note that records what was dug up.
可以想成：你嘴裡的每一個字都有一段過去。它從某個語言出發，當時的意思跟現在不完全一樣，一路被人傳到今天。這段過去本身…更多收起
可以想成：你嘴裡的每一個字都有一段過去。它從某個語言出發，當時的意思跟現在不完全一樣，一路被人傳到今天。這段過去本身，就是 etymology 最底層的畫面。有了這段過去，就會有人去挖它，也會有人把挖出來的結果寫成一小段記下來——這三件事，正好就是這個字的三個用法。From the word’s history
The Wiktionary tree for this word runs Ancient Greek etumos plus logos, into Greek etumologia, then Latin etymologia, Old French ethimologie and Middle English ethymologie. The two Greek parts are generally understood as the word's own true shape and an account or study of something.
Wiktionary 的詞源樹顯示這個字由兩段希臘成分組成：ἔτυμος 加 λόγος，再經拉丁文 etymologia、古法文 ethimologie、中古英文 ethymologie 進入英文。這兩段成分一般被理解為「字原本真正的樣子」和「說法、學問」，正好對上今天的畫面：把字原本的樣子找出來，再說出來。
Wiktionary etymology tree supplied in packet (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:6610441:82684). Glosses of the two Greek roots are general knowledge, flagged in notes_for_owner.
Two branches
把這段過去挖出來、寫下來
字有過去，就會有人去追它、也會有人把追到的結果記下來。這兩個用法都是從同一段過去長出來的動作和產物。
noun · C1
The study of where words come from, how they moved from one language into another, and how their meanings changed on the way.
詞源學