Philology is the study of language in its written history. Comparative philology, a philology department, study philology.
It is what historical linguistics was called before the name changed, and it reconstructed whole lost languages from written evidence alone. Tolkien was a philologist, and the languages in his books came out of that work.
1nounphilologyThe study of language in its written history.
“She studied philology, tracing how old English words changed over the centuries.”
philology is a study.
Greek philologia means love of learning and of words, from philos, loving, plus logos, word.
Ancient Greek
φιλολογίᾱ — love of argument or reasoning, love of learning and literature
Latin
philologia
Middle English
Philologie
English, today
philology
Middle English Philologie, from Latin philologia, from Ancient Greek φιλολογίᾱ (“love of argument or reasoning, love of learning and literature”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA