Dera Bhante,

>> I assume you mean this as a rhetorical question -- Buddhist
>> exegetical literature is full of these "folk etymologies"
>> which may have hermeneutical value but are nonsensical in
>> philological terms.

[snip]

> I think it would be more on track to say that the etymologies used were
> pedigogical rather than historical (and certainly not "fanciful" or
> "folk").

Or even pedagogical :) I wrote "hermeneutical" -- similar idea, different
word. Also, you may be uncomfortable with the term "folk etymology" but
that seems to be the standard term for non-philological etymologies.

> Would you want etymologies like dhamma = "the duty of one's social class"?

That is a definition, valid in some contexts, not an etymology. An etymology
would give the verbal root DH.R and its presumed meaning.

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge