An etymological dictionary discusses the etymology of the words listed. Often, large dictionaries, such as the Oxford English Dictionary and Webster's, will contain some etymological information, without aspiring to focus on etymology.[1]
Etymological dictionaries are the product of research in historical linguistics. For many words in any language, the etymology will be uncertain, disputed, or simply unknown. In such cases, depending on the space available, an etymological dictionary will present various suggestions and perhaps make a judgement on their likelihood, and provide references to a full discussion in specialist literature.
The tradition of compiling "derivations" of words is pre-modern, found for example in Sanskrit (nirukta), Arabic (al-ištiqāq) and also in Western tradition (in works such as the Etymologicum Magnum and Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae). Etymological dictionaries in the modern sense, however, appear only in the late 18th century (with 17th-century predecessors such as the Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española by Sebastián de Covarrubias (1611), Vossius' 1662 Etymologicum linguae Latinae or Stephen Skinner's 1671 Etymologicon Linguae Anglicanae), with the understanding of sound laws and language change and their production was an important task of the "golden age of philology" in the 19th century.
August Fick. Wörterbuch der Indogermanischen Grundsprache in ihrem Bestande vor der Völkertrennung. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht's Verlag, 1868. Second edition: Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen. 2 vols., 1870–1871.
Alois Walde & Julius Pokorny. Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen. 3 vols. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1927–32 (reprint 1973).
Carl Darling Buck. A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages. University of Chicago Press, 1949 (paperback edition 1988).
Albert Carnoy. Dictionnaire étymologique du proto-indo-européen. Louvain: Publications Universitaires / Institut Orientaliste, 1955.
Julius Pokorny. Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (IEW), 2 vols. Tübingen–Berne–Munich: A. Francke, 1957/1969 (reprint 2005). Revision of Walde-Pokorny 1927–32.
Stuart E. Mann [de; de]. An Indo-European Comparative Dictionary. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag, 1984–1987.
Xavier Delamarre. Le Vocabulaire indo-européen: lexique étymologique thématique. Paris: Librairie d'Amérique et d'Orient, 1984.
Helmut Rix. Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben: Die Wurzeln und ihre Primärstammbildungen (LIV²), 2nd edn. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2001.
Dagmar S. Wodtko, Britta Irslinger, & Carolin Schneider. Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon (NIL). Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 2008.
George E. Dunkel. Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme (LIPP). Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 2014.
Kolec Topalli. Fjalor etimologjik i gjuhës shqipe. Durrës: Jozef, 2017.
Vladimir Orel. Albanian Etymological Dictionary. Leiden: Brill, 1998.
Eqrem Çabej. Studime etimologjike në fushë të shqipes. 7 vols. Tirana: Akademia et Shkencave e Republikës Popullore të Shqipërisë, Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë, 1976–2014.
Ernst Fraenkel, Annemarie Slupski, Erich Hofmann, & Eberhard Tangl, eds. Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (LitEW). 2 vols. Heidelberg: Carl Winter; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1962–65.
Wolfgang Hock et al. Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterburch (ALEW). 3 vols. Hamburg: Baar Verlag, 2015.
Old Prussian
Erich Berneker. Die preussische Sprache. Texte, Grammatik, etymologisches Wörterbuch. Strassburg: Verlag von Karl J. Trübner, 1896.
Vytautas Mažiulis. Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas, 2nd rev. edn. [= Etymological dictionary of Old Prussian]. Vilnius: Mokslas, 2013 (1st edn. 1988–1997).
Franz Miklosich. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der slavischen Sprachen. Vienna: Wilhelm Braumüller, 1886. 547 pp.
Erich Berneker. Slavisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 1 vol. and 1st fascicle of 2nd vol. (A-*morъ). Heidelberg: Carl Winter's Universitätsbuchhandlung, 1908–1914. Unfinished.
Franciszek Sławski (pl) (1974–2001) & Mariola Jakubowicz (2023–), eds. Słownik prasłowiański. 11 vols. (A-G, K). Wrocław/Warsawa/Kraków/Gdańsk: Zakład narodowy imienia Ossolińskich / Wydawnictwo Polskiey akademii nauk, 1974–present.
J. Holub, F. Kopečný. Etymologický slovník jazyka českého. Prague: Státní nakladatelství učebnic (1952) [1933]
Václav Machek. Etymologický slovník jazyka českého. Prague: NLN, Nakladatelství Lidové noviny (2010 [1971]) [1957]
J. Holub, S. Lyer. Stručný etymologický slovník jazyka českého se zvláštním zřetelem k slovům kulturním a cizím. Prague: SPN (1992) [1967]
Jiří Rejzek. Český etymologický slovník. Voznice: LEDA (2012 [2001])
Kashubian
Wiesław Boryś (pl), Hanna Popowska-Taborska. Słownik etymologiczny kaszubszczyzny. 6 vols. Warszawa: Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 1994–2010.
Linda Sadnik [de; de], Rudolf Aitzetmüller [de; de]. Handwörterbuch zu den altkirchslavischen Texten. Heidelberg: Carl Winter; 's-Gravenhage: Mouton & Co., 1955.
Tadeusz Lehr-Spławiński (vol. 1), Kazimierz Polański [pl; pl] (vols. 1–6). Słownik etymologiczny języka Drzewian połabskich. 6 vols. Wrocław / Warszawa / Krawów / Gdańsk: Zakład Narodowy imiena Ossolińskich / Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk (vols. 1–4) / Wydawnictwo Energeia (vols. 5–6), 1962–1994.
A. G. Preobrazhensky [ru; ru; Преображенский, Александр Григорьевич]. Этимологический словарь русского языка. Москва: Типография Г. Лисснера и Д. Совко, 1910–1914 (vols. 1–2: А–С) – Издательство АН СССР, 1949 (vol. 3: тело–ящур).
Max Vasmer. Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 3 vols. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1953–58. (Translated into Russian and expanded by Oleg Trubachov, Этимологический словарь русского языка. 4 vols. Moscow: Прогресс, 1959–1961.)
N. M. Shansky [ru; ru; Шанский, Николай Максимович], V. V. Ivanov [ru; ru; Иванов, Валерий Васильевич], T. V. Shanskaya. Краткий этимологический словарь. Москва: Гос. учебно-педагогическое издат. Министерства просвещения РСФСР, 1961. ²1971.
N. M. Shansky [ru; ru; Шанский, Николай Максимович] (1963–2007), A. F. Zhuravlyov [ru; ru; Журавлёв, Анатолий Фёдорович] (1999–) (eds.). Этимологический словарь русского языка [ru; ru; Этимологический словарь русского языка Московского университета]. 11 vols. (А—Н). Москва: Издательство Московского университета, 1963–present.
P. Ya. Chernykh [ru; ru; Черных, Павел Яковлевич]. Историко-этимологический словарь современного русского языка [= Historical and etymological dictionary of modern Russian language]. 2 vols. Moscow: Русский язык. 1993.
A. Ye. Anikin [ru; ru; Аникин, Александр Евгеньевич]. Русский этимологический словарь. 18 vols. (А–зять). Москва: Рукописные памятники Древней Руси [etc.], 2007–present.
Serbo-Croatian
Petar Skok. Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika [Etymological Dictionary of the Croatian or Serbian Language]. 4 vols. Zagreb: Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, 1971–4. Edited by Mirko Deanović, Ljudevit Jonke and Valentin Putanec.
Alemko Gluhak. Hrvatski etimološki rječnik. Zagreb: August Cesarec, 1993.
Aleksandar Loma, ed. Етимолошки речник српског језика. 4 vols. (А–Бљ). Beograd: Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, 2003–present.
Ranko Matasović, Tijmen Pronk, Dubravka Ivšić, Dunja Brozović Rončević. Etimološki rječnik hrvatskoga jezika. 2 vols. Zagreb: Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje, 2016–21.
Aleksandar Loma, ed. Приручни етимолошки речник српског језика. 1 vol. (А–Ј). Beograd: Institut za srpski jezik SANU, 2023–present.
Enrico Campanile. Profilo etimologico del cornico antico. Pisa: Pacini, 1974.
Old Irish
Sanas Cormaic, encyclopedic dictionary, 9th or 10th century
Joseph Vendryes, E. Bachellery, & Pierre-Yves Lambert. Lexique étymologique de l'irlandais ancien (LÉIA). 7 vols. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies; Paris: CNRC Éditions, 1959–1996. (unfinished)
Alexander MacBain, An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, Inverness: Northern Counties Printing and Publishing Company, 1896 (rev. ed. 1911) [available at Hathitrust (1896), Internet Archive (1911)
Germanic
Frank Heidermanns. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive (EWgA). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1993.
Vladimir Orel. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. Leiden: Brill, 2003.
Guus Kroonen. Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic. Leiden: Brill, 2013.
Jan de Vries. Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek (NEW), 4th edn. Leiden: Brill, 1997 (1st edn. 1971).
Nicoline van der Sijs. Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd edn. Orig. by P.A.F. van Veen. Utrecht–Antwerp: Van Dale Lexicografie, 1997 (1st edn. 1989).
Marlies Philippa, Frans Debrabandere, A. Quak, T. Schoonheim, & Nicoline van der Sijs, eds. Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands (EWN). 4 vols. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2003–09.
Walter William Skeat. An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882 (4th edition 1910).
Eric Partridge, Origins: A short etymological dictionary of Modern English. New York: Greenwich House, 1958 (reprint: 1959, 1961, 1966, 2008).
C.T. Onions, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
Ernest Klein. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–67.
Terry F. Hoad. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Robert K. Barnhart & Sol Steinmetz, eds. Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology. Bronx, NY: H. W. Wilson, 1988 (reprinted as Chambers Dictionary of Etymology).
Elmar Seebold, ed. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 26th edn. Originally by Friedrich Kluge. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2013 (1st edn. 1883).
Albert Larry Lloyd (vols. 1–4), Otto Springer (vols. 1–2), Rosemarie Lühr (vols. 2–), eds. Etymologischen Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen. 8 vols. (A–swummôd). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1988–present.
Wolfgang Pfeifer, ed. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 7th edn. Munich: dtv, 2004 (1st edn., 1995).
Gunther Drosdowsi, Paul Grebe, et al., eds. Duden, Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache, 5th edn. Berlin: Duden, 2013.
Sabine Krome, ed. Wahrig, Herkunftswörterbuch, 5th edn. Originally by Ursula Hermann. Gütersloh–Munich: Wissenmedia, 2009.
Walther Prellwitz. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Griechischen Sprache. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1892.
Émile Boisacq [fr; fr]. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Heidelberg: Carl Winter & Paris: Klincksieck, 1916.
A. (Étienne-Abel) Juret. Dictionnaire étymologique grec et latin. Mâcon: Protat Frères, 1942.
Johann Baptist Hofmann [de; de]. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen. München: R. Oldenbourg, 1949.
Hjalmar Frisk. Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 3 vols. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1960–72.
Pierre Chantraine. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: Histoire des mots, 2nd rev. edn. 2 vols. Revised by Jean Taillardat, Olivier Masson, & Jean-Louis Perpillou. Paris: Klincksieck, 2009 (2nd edn. 1994; 1st edn. 1968–80 in 4 vols.).
Robert S. P. Beekes. Etymological Dictionary of Greek. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2010.
Rafał Rosół. Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2013.
Modern Greek
Georgios Babiniotis. Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [= Etymological Dictionary of the Modern Greek Language]. 2 vols. Athens: Κέντρο λεξικογραφίας, 2010.
Alfred Ernout & Antoine Meillet. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: Histoire des mots (DELL), 4th rev. edn. 2 vols. Revised by Jacques André. Paris: Klincksieck, 1985 (4th edn. 1959–60; 1st edn. 1932).
A. (Étienne-Abel) Juret. Dictionnaire étymologique grec et latin. Mâcon: Protat Frères, 1942.
Michiel de Vaan. Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages. Leiden: Brill, 2008.
Walther von Wartburg & Hans-Erich Keller, eds. Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch: Eine Darstellung des gallormanischen Sprachschatzes (FEW). 25 vols. Bonn: Klopp; Heidelberg: Carl Winter; Leipzig–Berlin: Teubner; Basel: R. G. Zbinden, 1922–67 (some vols. have since been revised).
Oscar Bloch & Walther von Wartburg. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 2nd edn. Paris: PUF, 1950 (1st edn. 1932).
Albert Dauzat, Jean Dubois, & Henri Mitterand. Nouveau dictionnaire étymologique et historique, 2nd edn. Paris: Larousse, 1964 (1st edn. 1938).
Jacqueline Picoche [fr; fr]. Dictionnaire étymologique du français. Paris: Le Robert, 1971.
Emmanuèle Baumgartner & Philippe Ménard. Dictionnaire étymologique et historique de la langue française. Paris: Livre de Poche, 1996.
Alain Rey, ed. Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 4th edn. 2 vols. Paris: Le Robert, 2016 (1st edn. 1992).
José Pedro Machado. Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 3rd edn. 5 vols. Lisbon: Livros Horizonte, 1977 (1st edn. 1952).
Antonio Geraldo da Cunha. Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th edn. Revised by Cláudio Mello Sobrinho. Rio de Janeiro: FAPERJ/Lexikon, 2010 (1st edn. 1982).
Sardinian
Max Leopold Wagner. Dizionario etimologico sardo (DES). 2 vols. Revised by Giulio Paulis. Nuoro: Ilisso, 2008 (1st edn. 3 vols., Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1960–4).
Massimo Pittau. Dizionario della lingua sarda fraseologico ed etimologico (DILS). 2 vols. Cagliari: E. Gasperini, 2000–03.
A. J. van Windekens. Lexique étymologique des dialectes tokhariens. Louvain: Bureaux du Muséon, 1941.
A. J. van Windekens. Le tokharien confronté avec les autres langues indoeuropéennes, vol. 1: La phonétique et le vocabulaire. Louvain: Centre international de dialectologie générale, 1976.
Jörundur Hilmarsson. Materials for a Tocharian Historical and Etymological Dictionary. Reykjavík: Málvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands, 1996. Edited by Alexander Lubotsky and Guđrun Thórhallsdóttir with the assistance of Sigurđur H. Pálsson.
Y. H. Toivonen [fi; fi], Erkki Itkonen [fi; fi], Aulis J. Joki [fi; fi] & Reino Peltola, eds. Suomen kielen etymologinen sanakirja [Etymological Dictionary of the Finnish Language]. 7 vols. Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, 1955–81.
Erkki Itkonen & Ulla-Maija Forsberg [fi; fi], eds. Suomen sanojen alkuperä [The Origin of Finnish Words]. 3 vols. Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus / Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1992–2000 (vol. 1, A–K 1992; vol. 2, L–P 1995; vol. 3, R–Ö 2000).
Kaisa Häkkinen [fi; fi]. Nykysuomen etymologinen sanakirja [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Finnish]. Juva: WSOY. 2004.
An online etymological dictionary of Finnish (Suomen etymologinen sanakirja) is provided by Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus.
[19] – Turkish Etymological Dictionary by Sevan Nişanyan "Sözlerin Soyağacı – Çağdaş Türkçe'nin Etimolojik Sözlüğü" (Third ed. Adam Y. Istanbul 2007)
Austronesian languages
[20] – Austronesian Comparative Dictionary by R. A. Blust
[21] – Indonesian Etymological Dictionary by S. M. Zain
[22] – Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary by E. Tregear
[23] – A Concise Waray Dictionary (Waray-Waray, Leytese-Samarese) with etymologies and Bicol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan and Tagalog cognates
[33] – Uralic Etymological Dictionary by S. A. Starostin et al.
[34] – Estonian Etymological Dictionary by Iris Metsmägi, Meeli Sedrik, Sven-Erik Soosaar
[35] – Zaicz, Gábor. Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (’Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, ISBN9637094016, first edition.