Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “philological” come from?

Philological derives from English philology plus the English suffix -ic, from French -ique, from Ancient Greek -logikos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰil- meaning to swell or overflow.

philological (English): Of or pertaining to the history of literature and...

Definitions

  1. Of or pertaining to the history of literature and...

Ancestry of “philological”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishphilologyThe humanistic study of historical linguistics;...
2Middle Frenchphilologie—
3Ancient Greekφιλολογίαlove of reasoning; love of learning, love of...
4Ancient Greekφιλόλογοςthat loves to speak, loquacious; loving logic;...
5Ancient Greek-λόγοςword, speech; one who speaks; word, knowledge,...
6Ancient Greek-ός—
7Proto-Hellenic*-os—
8Proto-Indo-European-ósCreates agent nouns from verb stems, denoting...

Words derived from “philological”

  • philologically
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ós →