The word 'sportswriter' is a transparent 20th-century English compound, formed by directly combining two pre-existing English words. 'Sports' originates from the concept of diversion or leisure activity, evolving from the literal idea of carrying oneself away from work to its modern sense of organized athletic games. 'Writer' has a more physical origin, tracing back to the ancient act of scratching or carving marks onto a surface, which evolved into the general act of writing. The compound's logic is perfectly literal: a person who writes about sports, reflecting the professionalization of journalism dedicated to covering athletic competitions.

Structure: sports (athletic games) + writer (one who writes) - sports: From the English word 'sport', itself a shortening of 'disport' (meaning 'to divert, amuse'), from Old French 'desporter', from 'des-' ('away') + 'porter' ('to carry'), implying a diversion from work. In this compound, it functions as a noun modifier specifying the subject field. - writer: From the English verb 'write', from Old English 'wrītan' ('to score, outline, write'), from Proto-Germanic 'wrītaną' ('to tear, scratch'). Combined with the agent noun suffix '-er' (from Old English '-ere', from Proto-Germanic '-ārijaz'), it denotes 'one who performs the action of writing'.