linguistics
/lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪks/ noun
- noun The systematic and scholarly study of language. “a branch of linguistics”
Synonyms
glossology glottology linguistry speechlore wordlore philology
Etymology
From linguist + -ics, akin to linguistic and Latin linguisticus, coined by English philosopher and historian of science William Whewell in 1847 from German Linguistik.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The science of languages, or of the origin, signification, and application of words; glossology.
Etymology [Cf. F. linguistique.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “linguistics”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details