The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ETIOLOGY
Definition of ETIOLOGY
noun
US standard spelling of aetiology.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin aetiologia. By surface analysis, etio- + -logy. Doublet of aetiologia.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Latin
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
1st
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
30.7%
of traced words share this origin (23,981)
branch · 30.7% of traced words
How it is built
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
ETIOLOGY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 37 boards so far. 107 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 37, 26 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 152, 19 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 6 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 37, 26 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
ETIOLOGY starts with E and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read EGILOOTY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. O appears more than once.
Words that start ETIOLO
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 37
Could you have found ETIOLOGY?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 37 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER