Definition of Etymologiae

Etymologiae (or Origines, standard abbrev. Orig.) is an encyclopedia compiled by  Isidore of Seville (died 636) towards the end of his life, at the urging of his friend Braulio, Bishop of Saragossa, to whom Isidore, at the end of his life, sent his codex inemendatus ("unedited book"), which seems to have begun circulating before Braurio was able to revise it, and issue it, with a dedication to the late King Sisebut. Partly as a consequence, three families of texts have been distinguished, including a "compressed" text with many omissions, and an expanded text with interpolations.