Quote:
Originally Posted by chihirochild
I have this question that I've always wondered about... to what extent does knowing the etymology of a word help you understand the concept it represents? An example: to what extent does knowing the etymology of the word "compassion" help a person decide what it means to be compassionate?
@@, do you have an opinion on this?
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Generally, I think it should help, but the meanings of some specific words might change too much over time. Like sympathy and empathy should have different meanings but they’re regarded as synonyms today.
The exception might be something like medical terminology—but even then meanings can shift.