Etymological dictionaries

International audienceThis chapter about etymological dictionaries covers mainly two topics. First, it provides, based mostly on examples from European languages, a broad analysis of contemporary practices in etymographical work concerning turn in turn inherited lexicon, borrowings, and internal creations, i.e. the three grand etymological classes which make their own different demands of an etymologist. Then it tackles some issues the author considers of particular interest in current etymography: the dictionary's underlying definition of etymology, the word-list, what should be considered the etymological (and etymographical) unit, etimologia prossima vs. etimologia remota, the degree of formalization, and the prickly question of bringing etymological dictionaries to an end