Writing the OED

Etymology

The etymology of a word describes how it entered the English language. Words arrive from a multitude of different sources. Some are simply formed by combining an existing word with a prefix or suffix; others have very complicated histories, passing through forms in various languages before finally entering English.

Words arrive from a multitude of different sources

Tracing a complex etymology of the latter kind involves thorough research in the historical dictionaries of various languages, and often consultation with a specialist in a particular language or period of history.

Borrowing

Foreign languages are still a common source of new words, which are borrowed for various reasons, for example:

as the name of a food or dish originating in the region where the language is spoken (e.g. bhaji, tzatziki)
to describe a cultural or political concept originating in or unique to that region (e.g. feng shui, Knesset, glasnost)
as the name of an animal or plant found in that region (e.g. kiwi, aardvark, jojoba)

Specialist knowledge of these languages is important in properly describing the word in the language from which the English term is derived.

The etymology of magazine in the OED's Third Edition reads:

< Middle French magasin (1409; maguesin 1389) < Italian magazzino (1348; cf. post-classical Latin magazinus 1214 in an Italian source), ult. < Arabic makzan, makzin storehouse < kazana to store up. Cf. post-classical Latin magazenum (1228 in a document from Marseilles), Italian regional magazeno, magazzeno (from 14th cent.), Spanish †magazén. The Arabic word, with prefixed article al-, appears also as Spanish almacén (1225), Portuguese armazém warehouse (16th cent.).

Blending

Another way in which new words enter the language is by blending two or more existing words, or parts of words. The etymologies of such words note the original words which have been blended, and sometimes other words which have either been formed in the same way or which the new word is intended to resemble. Examples of such words include digerati (from digital and literati), affluenza (from affluent and influenza), and chocoholic (from chocolate and alcoholic).

The etymology of Trustafarian in the OED's Third Edition reads:

Blend of trust (in trust fund s.v. TRUST n. 8a) and RASTAFARIAN n.

Invention

Scientific terms are frequently coined specifically for the purpose of describing a new discovery, invention, or concept. In writing the etymology of such terms, our aim is to trace the coinage where possible, usually by following references in the scientific literature.

Further research is also necessary, to find out why the word took the form it did: a new mineral may be named after the place where it was found (e.g. bauxite, from Les Baux in south-east France); a drug may be named by combining elements of the words which describe its molecule (e.g. diazepam, from benzodiazepine and amide); a biological structure may be given a name based on Latin or Greek words describing its function or appearance (e.g. mastigoneme, a hair-like structure taking its name from the ancient Greek words for whip and thread). Sometimes, a word may simply have been made up (e.g. nylon), and we need to record if this has been the case.