Definitionetymology

Definitionetymology is a term occasionally used to refer to the study of the etymology of words that appear in definitions, as well as to the historical development of the concept of definition itself. It is not a formally established discipline in major linguistic or philosophical literature; instead, its topics are typically explored within etymology, historical linguistics, lexicography, and philosophy of language.

Origin of the word: The English word definition derives from Middle French defenition or directly from Latin definitio, from definire "to bound, limit" (de- meaning "out of" or "from" and finis "end, boundary"). Over time, definitio came to signify the act of presenting the meaning of a term; thus, a definition is a statement that bounds or clarifies meaning.

Scope and examples: A study framed as definitionetymology would examine how definitional terms arise, how their senses shift across languages and historical periods, and how the concept of definition has been used in philosophy, logic, and lexicography. Comparative work might contrast descriptive, stipulative, ostensive, and analytic definitions across languages.

Methods and applications: Approaches would include philology, historical linguistics, etymological dictionary research, corpus-based semantic analysis, and cross-linguistic comparison. Applications might concern precise terminology in dictionaries, academic writing, and technical fields where clear definitions are essential.

Limitations: The label "definitionetymology" is not widely adopted, so researchers usually address related questions within established domains rather than as a standalone field.

See also: Etymology, Definition, Lexicography, Semantics.