Etymology deals with Part of the task of understanding a writer's choice of words involves coming to terms with the histories of their meanings and senses. The OED is an extremely important resource for work in etymology, but a number of specialized dictionaries in the Reference collection may be easier starting places. 
 TITLE        The Barnhart dictionary of etymology / edited by Robert K.
                Barnhart ; Sol Steinmetz, managing editor.
 PUBLISHER    New York : H.W. Wilson Co., 1988.
 Leyburn-Reference      PE1580 .B35 1988               


 AUTHOR       Onions, C. T. (Charles Talbut), 1873-1965.
 TITLE        The Oxford dictionary of English etymology / edited by C. T.
                Onions with the assistance of G. W. S. Friedrichsen and R. W.
                Burchfield.
 PUBLISHER    Oxford : Clarendon Press, [1979, c1966]
 Leyburn-Reference      PE1580 .O5 1979                


 AUTHOR       Klein, Ernest David, 1899-1983.
 TITLE        A comprehensive etymological dictionary of the English language;
                dealing with the origin of words and their sense development
                thus illustrating the history of civilization and culture.
 EDITION      Unabridged, one vol. ed.
 PUBLISHER    Amsterdam, New York, Elsevier Pub. Co., 1971.
 Leyburn-Reference      PE1580 .K47 1971