SHORELINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

HUMANITIES DIVISION

Etymology Assignment

Purpose: This assignment is designed to get you familiar with the history of a single word. By studying a word’s history, you will gain greater insight into the flexibility of language and the importance of meaningful reading and writing.

Approach: Choose a word you use often then make sure the word has some history (at least a few hundred years). When you have your chosen word, find the word’s root and history by going to the Oxford English Dictionary found on the library’s website (http://oscar.ctc.edu/library/) under databases or by using the print editions in either the library or the Writing Center. Summarize the word’s history and root language(s) in a few paragraphs. Make sure to show the connections the word had or has to other languages and to show exactly how the meaning has shifted through time. Feel free to use the example sentences given, this might help clarify the word’s different meanings. Make sure the summary is your own writing you are not just copying down what the dictionary already states. When this is done predict new meanings the word may acquire. Be sure to give logical reasons for why the word might acquire those predicted meanings.

Paper requirements:

• 1-2 pages double-spaced.
• Summary of the history of one word showing cognates and other connections and shifts of meaning
• Prediction of new potential meaning with explanation of reasoning.