Answer:
D: the study of the history and origin of words.
Step-by-step explanation:
Etymology is the study of thehistory and origin of words, as we can see the word etymology itself has its origins from Old French ethimolegia: "facts of the origin and development of a word." Fom Latin and from Greek: "analysis of a word to find its true origin;" "study of the true sense of a word;" "true sense, original meaning."