Here's a suggestion.

Go to bartleby.com

There you'll see the link to the American Heritage Dictionary. You can enter a word there you're interested in, and you'll go to a definition. You'll read a little basic information on the etymology of the word (usually). Sometimes a root of a word is highlighted, and, if you click on the root, you'll be taken to an appendix that gives more detailed etymological history. If you don't find a highlighted root, sometimes you can click on related or similar words within the definition, and there you might find the root highlighted that will take you to the appendix.

I'm not computer savvy. There may be a more direct way of getting to the proper appendix with the information on the root of the word I'm looking for. But I just click on the highlighted areas to track the word I want as far back as I can. It's still a very fast series of clicking actions, however, to track a word down.

Others on this board will give you even more information.

Welcome, erlaursen!

WW

Edit: P.S. I just tracked down a word on American Heritage through Bartleby. I was not able to go to the appendices because the word had no links. There was some basic etymological information, but no related word and no other links were included here. So, sometimes you can get into the detailed etymology on the American Heritage site, and others you won't be able to.