Note 74 — Chapter XVI · ETYMOLOGY
Reading edition
It is, of course, impossible to say how great a proportion of the etymologies given in dictionaries should strictly be classed under each of the following heads: (1) certain, (2) probable, (3) possible, (4) improbable, (5) impossible—but I am afraid the first two classes would be the least numerous. Meillet (Gr 59) has some excellent remarks to the same effect; according to him, “pour une étymologie sûre, les dictionnaires en offrent plus de dix qui sont douteuses et dont, en appliquant une méthode rigoureuse, on ne saurait faire la preuve.”