Editing Etymonline

{{short description|Free online English-language dictionary}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Etymonline
| former_name = ''Online Etymology Dictionary''
| logo = Etymonline logo.svg
| company_type = Private
| foundation = {{circa|2000}}
| owner = Harper Family LLC
| location_city = [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]]
| location_country = United States
| key_people = {{unbulleted list|Douglas Harper<br />(Founder)|Dan McCormack<br />(web design and coding)}}
| products = 
| revenue = 
| net_income = 
| num_employees = 1
| screenshot = Etymonline.png
| caption = Screenshot of the homepage in 2007
| website = {{URL|https://www.etymonline.com/}}
| website_type = [[Etymological dictionary]]
| language = English
| registration = no
| launch_date = 
| current_status = active
}}

'''Etymonline''', or '''''Online Etymology Dictionary''''', sometimes abbreviated as '''OED''' (not to be confused with the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', which the site often cites), is a free [[online dictionary]] that describes the [[etymology|origins]] of [[English language|English]] [[word]]s, written and compiled by Douglas R. Harper.<ref name="Ohio U">{{cite web |publisher=[[Ohio University]] |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |date=2003 |url=http://infotree.library.ohiou.edu/single-records/2705.html |access-date=2007-01-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211224701/http://infotree.library.ohiou.edu/single-records/2705.html |archive-date=2007-02-11 }}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Online Etymology Dictionary.jpg|thumb|Logo in 2007]]
Douglas R. Harper, an [[American Civil War]] historian and copy editor for [[LNP Media Group]],<ref name="journal.orton-gillingham.com">{{cite web|url=https://journal.orton-gillingham.com/qa-with-douglas-harper-creator-of-the-online-etymology-dictionary/|title=Q&A With Douglas Harper: Creator of the Online Etymology Dictionary – IMSE – Journal|date=18 June 2015|access-date=2018-03-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lancasteronline.com/site/contact.html|title=Contact Us|website=LancasterOnline |access-date=2018-03-23}}</ref> compiled the etymology dictionary to record the history and evolution of more than 50,000 words, including slang and technical terms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/ |title=Home Page |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=2020-10-15}}</ref> The core body of its etymology information stems from ''The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology'' by [[Robert Barnhart]], [[Ernest Klein]]'s ''Comprehensive Etymology Dictionary of the English Language'', ''The Middle English Compendium'', ''[[The Oxford English Dictionary]]'', and the 1889–1902 ''[[Century Dictionary]]''.<ref>The dictionary's principal sources appear at [http://www.etymonline.com/sources.php Sources @ Online Etymology Dictionary]</ref> Harper also researches on [[digital archive]]s. On the ''Etymonline'' homepage, Harper says that he considers himself "essentially and for the most part" a compiler and evaluator of etymology research made by others.

==Reviews and reputation==
The ''Online Etymology Dictionary'' has been referenced by [[Oxford University]]'s "Arts and Humanities Community Resource" catalog as "an excellent tool for those seeking the origins of words"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arch.oucs.ox.ac.uk/detail/96011/index.html|title=Online etymology dictionary |website=Arts and Humanities Community Resource |publisher=[[Oxford University]] |access-date=2018-03-22}}</ref> and cited in the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' as one of the "best resources for finding just the right word".<ref>{{cite news |last=Bierma |first=Nathan |title=Internet has best resources for finding just the right word |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=2007-01-03 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2007/01/03/internet-has-best-resources-for-finding-just-the-right-word/ |access-date=2018-03-22}}</ref> It is cited in academic work as a useful, though not definitive, reference for etymology.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Alessandro |last1=Paluzzi |first2=Juan |last2=Fernandez-Miranda |first3=Matthew |last3=Torrenti |first4=Paul |last4=Gardner |title=Retracing the etymology of terms in neuroanatomy |journal=[[Clinical Anatomy]] |volume=25 |issue=8 |year=2012 |pages=1005–1014 |doi=10.1002/ca.22053|pmid=23112209 |s2cid=19961679 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Anna Kristina |last=Hultgren |title=Lexical borrowing from English into Danish in the Sciences: An empirical investigation of 'domain loss' |journal=International Journal of Applied Linguistics |volume=23 |issue=2 |year=2013 |doi=10.1111/j.1473-4192.2012.00324.x |pages=166–182}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Victor |last=Mair |author-link=Victor Mair |url=http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=18580 |website=[[Language Log]] |title=Farsi shekar ast |date=2015-04-10 |access-date=2018-03-23}}<br />{{cite web|first=Victor |last=Mair |author-link=Victor Mair |url=http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=23775 |website=[[Language Log]] |title='Butterfly' words as a source of etymological confusion |date=2016-01-28 |access-date=2018-03-22}}</ref> In addition, it has been used as a data source for quantitative scholarly research.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Erez |last1=Lieberman |first2=Jean-Baptiste |last2=Michel |first3=Joe |last3=Jackson |first4=Tina |last4= Tang |first5=Martin A. |last5=Nowak |author-link5=Martin Nowak |title=Quantifying the evolutionary dynamics of language |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=449 |issue=7163 |year=2007 |pages=713–716 |doi=10.1038/nature06137 |pmid=17928859 |pmc=2460562|bibcode=2007Natur.449..713L }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi= 10.1109/JCDL.2014.6970173 |chapter-url=http://www.dl.kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~adam/jcdl14.pdf|isbn=978-1-4799-5569-5 |citeseerx=10.1.1.678.3584 |chapter=A framework for analyzing semantic change of words across time|title=IEEE/ACM Joint Conference on Digital Libraries|pages=229–238|year=2014|last1=Jatowt|first1=Adam|last2=Duh|first2=Kevin|s2cid=12357037}}</ref>
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==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.etymonline.com/}}

[[Category:Etymological dictionaries]]
[[Category:English etymology]]
[[Category:Online English dictionaries]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2000]]