Is there a source at which one can find out when and where a word first came into use/print? Especially interested in scientific discourse.
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1This site may help: link – BillJ Apr 23 '18 at 6:27
The Oxford English Dictionary quotes early attestations for most of the words in the dictionary. The latest edition is available online, but most of the entries require a payed subscription to access them.
The first edition is out of copyright and available for free at archive.org (links to each volume are given here).