# \<ety>

Etymologies, shortened in ODXML to "ety" for simplicity, are the linguistic roots of a given word. Wiktionary often separates word definitions by their etymologies, however, even single definitions can be related to an etymology. Therefore, it is required each [Entry node](https://www.odict.org/odxml-nodes/entry.html) contain at least one etymology. Etymologies have an optional description attribute, to describe in further detail the origins or root of a word.

## Attributes

| Name        | Type   | Required? |
| ----------- | ------ | --------- |
| description | String | No        |

## Children

| Name                                                                         | Required? |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- |
| [\<usage>](https://odict.gitbook.io/the-open-dictionary-project/odxml/usage) | Yes       |


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://odict.gitbook.io/the-open-dictionary-project/odxml/ety.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.