Learn English – Etymology of “research”

etymologymeaning

Triggered by an interesting but speculative and open-ended discussion in a scientific blog article, I want to ask what the meaning of research is/was according to its etymological history. Maybe the knowledge here and wizard-like tools like ngram can shed more light on this question, at least I would like to see how people interpret/vote research. Please do not just simply reword different theories in this blog article, but add some traceable clues or a analysis how the meaning of the word changed gradually.

Best Answer

The OED says:

Apparently < re- prefix + search n., after Middle French recerche (rare), Middle French, French recherche thorough investigation (1452; a1704 with spec. reference to investigation into intellectual or academic questions; 1815 in plural denoting scholarly research or the published results of this), introductory passage played on a piano or organ (early 18th cent.). Compare Italian ricerca (1470). Compare slightly later research v. 1

So it appears the English was, if not borrowed from the French, at least modelled on it; and the French word already had something like the modern meaning.

Under "re-" the OED says: "The original sense of re- in Latin is ‘back’ or ‘backwards’, but in the large number of words in which it occurs it shows various shades of meaning ... ", but it does not give a meaning specifically which would account for the sense of "rechercher/research"

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