The Oxford Dictionary Of English Etymology

The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology is the most comprehensive etymological dictionary of the English language ever published. It is based on the original edition of The Oxford English Dictionary but much augmented by further research on the etymology of English and other languages.

The lexicographical labours of the late Dr C.T. Onions began when he joined the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1895. His astringent yet humane scholarship in this field was well known from his work as co-editor (with J. A. H. Murray, Henry Bradley, and W. A. Craigie) of the OED, and later of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. His life work was crowned with his new etymological dictionary, based on the OED but embodying further research on the etymology of English and of the other languages concerned.