The English word 'etymology' is through the Latin 'etymologia' traced back to the Greek 'etumologia'.1 This Greek word consists of the words 'etumon' and 'logos'. 'Etumon' refers in general to a root word and 'logos' is also the root of the English word 'logic'.2 So etymology then can be understood as the logic about (root) words.
Now logic regards "the science or art of reasoning as applied to some particular department of knowledge or investigation".3 It is together with empiricism the prime means with which the academic world comes to its conclusions.4 And this is what the English postfix 'logy' signifies. It signifies an academic process towards conclusions with regards to the referent of the before the postfix placed root word. For instance anthropology is the logical or academic process towards conclusions on man (anthropos), and theology is the logical or academic process towards conclusions on God (theos).5, 6
The English neologism 'etymosophy' contains the same root word 'etymo', that is rooted in the Greek 'etumon', as 'etymology' but its postfix is different. The postfix 'sophy' is rooted in the Greek 'sophia' which refers to wisdom.7 So where etymology can be understood as the logic about (root) words there can etymosophy be understood as the wisdom about (root) words.
Now wisdom is not applied so much by the academic world, but rather by the contemplative world. Where the academic world uses the human faculty of concrete rationality to process logic there does the contemplative world use the human faculty of abstract intuition to process wisdom. And this process the contemplative world does not start with empiric observation, as the academic world does, but with spiritual revelation. Academic science moves from empiricism through logic towards inferred conclusions about what is not observed and contemplative science moves from revelation through wisdom towards deduced conclusions about what is observed.8 Anthroposophy then regards not the logical or academic process towards conclusions on man but rather the wise or contemplative process towards this, like theosophy then regards the wise or contemplative process towards conclusions on God. And this also goes mutatis mutandis for etymosophy in contrast with etymology. Etymology is the logical or academic process towards conclusions on (root) words and etymosophy is the wise or contemplative process towards this.
We thus get an overview as below.
| (Etymo)logy | (Etymo)sophy |
| Materialistic | Spiritualistic |
| Academic | Contemplative |
| Empiricism | Revelation |
| Logic | Wisdom |
| Rationality | Intuition |
| Concrete mind | Abstract mind |
Figure 1.
Combinations of the above are also possible. Most of the etymosophies or etymologies under the 'Contemplations' series for instance are such combinations where within etymosophy also etymology is applied. However the difference between the two extremes should be set clear. Etymology is materialistic, academic, empiristic, logical, rational and concrete minded, and etymosophy is spiritualistic, contemplative, revelationistic, wise, intuitive and abstract minded.