| linguistics |
| Definition:
The science of language. Note: The word philology used to be the common name for the study of language, but in the 20th century it was superseded by linguistics, especially in the United States. Thus, those whose were once called philologists are now called linguists. |
| Etymology: The word derives from the Latin lingua, language or tongue. When it first entered English (circa 1588), it denoted "a master of language" or "one who uses his tongue freely." |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The term in the sense "science of language" was probably introduced to English by the polymath William Whewell. I'm proposing this because its first OED citation is from Whewell in 1837: "We may call the science of languages linguistic, as it is called by the best German writers." (Whewell Hist. Induct. Sci. (1840) I. p. cxiv) |