The term etymology refers to the linguistic origin of a word. An etymological fallacy is committed when the meaning of a modern word is taken to be the same as that of an old word from which it derives.
Like many words in the English language, education has Latin roots. It comes from educere, which means, ‘to draw out’. Believers in certain progressive theories of education love this. They use it to commit the etiological fallacy. Often.
“Education”, they say, “means to ‘draw out’, not to ‘put in’. So a teacher’s job must be to facilitate children teaching themselves. A teacher should be a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage”.
By committing an etymological fallacy of my own, I can prove them wrong.