Owl Header: Michelle Mathias

Etymology is the study of a word's origin, history, and modern usage.

Words are the building blocks of linguistic communication. Chosen wisely, they accurately transfer shared meaning. Chosen poorly, they foster misunderstanding and disagreement.

Correct terminology is a boon for those who wish to be correctly understood. The study of etymology improves linguistic accuracy and interpretation.

For men converse by means of language; but words are imposed according to the understanding of the crowd; and there arises from a bad and inapt formation of words a wonderful obstruction to the mind.
- Francis Bacon

Etymology
Etymos: true, real, actual (Ancient Greek ἔτυμος)
Logos: word, speech, reason, explanation; the link between rational discourse and the world's rational structure (Ancient Greek, λόγος)

Prefixes

ana-: on, up, upwards, in sequence (from the Ancient Greek ana/άνά)
epistem-: abstract knowledge, science (from the Ancient Greek episteme/ἐπιστήμη)
etym-: true, real, actual (from the Ancient Greek etymos/ἔτυμος)
tech-: skill, craft, knowledge concerned with concrete results (from the Ancient Greek techne/τέχνη)

Suffixes

-lysis: decomposition, dissolution, disintegration (from the Ancient Greek lysis/λόγος)
-ology: word, speech, reason, explanation; the link between rational discourse and the world's rational structure (Ancient Greek, logos/λόγος)