folk etymology
/fəʊk ˌɛ.tɪˈmɒl.ə.dʒi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.92 in modern English
29
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
6
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A popular explanation for the origin of a term which has been rejected as false by expert etymologists.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A modification of a word or its spelling resulting from a misunderstanding of its etymology, as with island, belfry, and hangnail.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Many English folk etymologies involve backronyms."
- "The spelling in 'sovereign' was influenced by folk-etymology association with 'reign'."
- "It is not improbable that, in some locality where tram-roads were a novelty, their name may have been associated in folk-etymology or by pre-scientific etymologers with that of the engineer."
- "He even sharked up a false or "folk" etymology in which saunter is made to derive from sainte terre, making the saunterer a crusader."
- "SURCEASE owes its form and meaning to a remarkable folk-etymology, as has been pointed out by Prof. Skeat:—"It is obvious, from the usual spelling, that this word is popularly supposed to be allied with cease, with which it has no etymological connexion.""
- "Thus hamburger (whose true etymology is 'city of Hamburg' + er 'someone from') has been reanalyzed as ham + burger 'burger made with ham.' [...] Subsequently, on the analogy of this folk etymology, new forms such as cheeseburger, chiliburger, and plain burger have been created."
Etymology
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Linguistics.