We talk about archaeology a lot when we talk about the ancient world. We know what the word means now, but do you know where the word comes from and how the meaning has evolved?
It all traces back to the Greek word ‘arkhaios’, meaning ‘ancient’. Then we have the Greek ‘arkhaiologia’, meaning ‘ancient history’. Next, we have the Latin ‘archaeologia’.
In the 17th century, archaeology was used to refer to ‘ancient history’. The current definition of archaeology began being used in the 19th Century.
Source: Oxford Languages