quasi-etymological en · ADJ
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- Proto-Indo-European *kʷís Proto-Italic *kʷis Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- Proto-Indo-European *kʷos Proto-Italic *kʷoi Latin quam Proto-Indo-European *sóder. Proto-Italic *sei Latin sī univ. Latin quasī̆bor. English quasi- Proto-Indo-European *set-? Ancient Greek ἐτεός (eteós)der.? Ancient Greek ἔτυμος (étumos) Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *lóǵos Proto-Hellenic *lógos Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) Ancient Greek -λογος (-logos) Ancient Greek ἐτῠμόλογος (etŭmólogos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek ἐτῠμολογῐ́ᾱ (etŭmologĭ́ā)bor. Latin etymologiader. Old French ethimologiebor. Middle English ethymologie English etymology Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ic Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al Middle English -ical English -ical English etymological English quasi-etymological From quasi- + etymological.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Based on faulty etymological grounds or reasoning; employing the techniques of etymology but not in a rigorous, scholarly, or accurate manner.
There was argument, public, private, and bar-parlor, with heated championship of one term or another on near-scientific, quasi-etymological, and a number of other grounds, but gradually one term began to dominate this philological gymkhana.
1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 41: