Electronic Word Search Assignment

This assignment is part of your Etymology Project.

  1. Choose a word related to the topic you plan to pursue.
  2. Use the Word Hunter Option of the American Heritage Dictionary (under the Tools menu). Click on “Partial Word Search.” For example, for the word “economics” type “econom” so that the search will also pick up works like ‘economical”, “economist”, etc.
  3. Copy the list into a Word Processor. To copy the list go to the edit menu and select the “copy results list” option. Then go into your word processor and paste.
  4. Analyze your list. A search of the word "economics" will produce a list of several hundred items. You should organize this list into groups or categories which help you to organize the material for your project. Some entries you may simply eliminate. One of your organizing categories should be the etymology of the word; i.e., grouping together works of Latin origin, Greek origin, Old English origin, etc.

Submit (1) the original list, (2), an analysis of this list, and (3) a 250-word precis. Original list" means that you should submit a copy of the raw data, listed alphabetically, as you copy/pasted it into a word processing file. Be sure to type your name at the top and describe what you were searching in this list (i.e., the words or word elements you were searching. "Analysis" means that you should submit a second copy of the raw data reorganized into appropriate, thematic groups. In the precis you will what information you gained about the word from this search and how you could use this material in the etymology project. 

This material has been published on the web by Prof. Tom Sienkewicz for his students at Monmouth College. If you have any questions, you can contact him at toms@monm.edu.

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