[f. WORD sb. + LORE sb.1 Cf. G. wortlehre.] a. The study of words and their history; the words collectively of a language and their history. b. (= G. wortlehre.) The doctrine of the forms and formation of words; morphology.
1860. D. Coleridge, in Trans. Philol. Soc., 167. Sanskrit has now taken the place of Hebrew, with much better claims, as the universal solvent, the elivir etymologiæ, the master key of Arian wordlore.
1862. Daily News, 11 Sept., 2/3. If the word-lore of the present day had been known to him [Sir Walter Scott], his imagination would, we doubt not, have realised the difference [between ‘shall’ and ‘will’] without ever afterwards forgetting it.
1870. Dublin Univ. Mag., March, 282 (art.), Word-lore.
1871. Kennedy, Public Sch. Lat. Gram., 4. Etymology comprises:—I. Phonology or Soundlore, the doctrine of Sounds. II. Morphology or Wordlore, the Doctrine of Words.
1904. A. S. Palmer (title), The Folk and their Word-Lore: an Essay on Popular Etymologies.
