Word of the Week

Word history and etymology

Word of the Week – -spire Words
We know the definitions of words that end in -spire...but do we know what they literally mean? All these -spire endings come from the Latin spirare, which means "to breathe." So let's examine our English words! Conspire - literally "breathe together"Perspire -...
Word of the Week – Muscle
Did you know that muscle comes from mouse? You didn't read that wrong. Apparently back in Ancient Greece, someone thought that bulging muscles (think biceps) resembled mice. So mys was the root for both words, and that just carried right up on through the millennia...
Word of the Week – Green
Happy St. Patrick's Day! In honor of the holiday of "the wearin o' the green," I thought we'd take a look at the history of green today. Not surprisingly, various spellings of green have been around as long as English itself has been (Old English was grene), and also...
Word of the Week – Again(st)
Time for yet another look at a word so common we probably don't even think about it. But pause for a second and consider these two: again and against. They look strikingly similar, don't they? Coincidence? Far from it. Again actually traces its roots allllll the way...

Have you ever wondered when certain words started to be used in certain ways? Or how they even came about? If they’re related to other, similar-sounding words?

I wonder these things all the time. And so, for years I’ve been gathering interesting words together, looking at the etymology, and posting them in fun, bite-sized posts called Word of the Week. Here you’ll find everything from which definition of a word pre-dates another, to how certain holiday words came about, to what the original meaning was of something we use a lot today but in a very different way. And of course, the surprising words that we think are new but in fact are pretty ancient, like “wow”!

Word of the Week – Liberty and Libraries

Word of the Week – Liberty and Libraries

We all know the liber words that have to do with "freedom": Liberty Liberate Liberally But what about Library? Is it so called because it's where you can get books for free? You might think so, but...no, actually. It's because in Latin, liber had two meanings: "free"...

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Word of the Week – Puny

Word of the Week – Puny

My kids' vocabulary books have this section at the end of each lesson called "Fun and Fascinating Facts" about the words or roots in that week's list. This one comes courtesy of Rowyn's book--and is something I really did find fun and fascinating! So, puny. I know it...

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Word of the Week – Aroma

Word of the Week – Aroma

This time of year, I do a fair amount of baking--love a little added warmth in the kitchen! And I have to say, one of my favorite things to bake is bread. I love the process of making it--kneading the dough, finding that perfect texture and moisture level, then...

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Word of the Week – Companion

Word of the Week – Companion

So we all know what a companion is...but if you're anything like me, you've never paused to examine where the word came from. Com is Latin for "with." Okay...making sense so far. A companion is someone you're with. But I'd never stopped to realize that the panion part...

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Word of the Week – Auld Lang Syne

Word of the Week – Auld Lang Syne

I know, I know, I'm a week late for this one. But on New Year's, my family asked what in the world this song means, so I figured it would be a great feature for my first Word of the Week post in January! I've never really looked too deeply into this song and the...

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Word of the Year – Promise

Word of the Year – Promise

As the old year draws to a close, I always pray for a word for the new year. Something I ought to keep in mind through the coming months. Something God whispers to my spirit. Sometimes I get one. Sometimes I don't. For 2018, there was no word that stood out. And given...

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Word of the Week – Noel

Word of the Week – Noel

'Tis the season to look up any Christmas-related words I haven't already done. 😉 Knowing that noel is French, I suppose I figured there wasn't much more to know about it, so I hadn't looked into this one before. But I decided it was time! For starters, I had no idea...

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Word of the Week – Bran(d) New

Word of the Week – Bran(d) New

This is another word that my daughter came running out to show me in her history book. And one I found even more intriguing when I looked it up on my own, as etymonline doesn't, in fact, agree with said history book! So, according to A History of Us, the phrase...

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Word of the Week – Dub

Word of the Week – Dub

We've been studying medieval history in our homeschool right now, which of course means learning about knights and the process they go through to become knights. Which naturally led to a question of where in the world the word dub came from. Dub has been around since...

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Word of the Week – Vignette

Word of the Week – Vignette

I love learning things through my kids' school! A week or two ago, my daughter came out with her vocabulary book in hand to ask if I knew about the history of the word vignette. I'm not sure if I've ever heard this before, but it's a fun progression! So back in the...

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Word of the Week – Stumped

Word of the Week – Stumped

Ever wonder why, when we're stymied and/or confused, we say we're stumped? I'd never really paused to wonder about this one, but my daughter learned this etymology in her history class and had to share, and it made me go, "Oh, of course!" As early as the 13th century,...

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Word of the Week – Buck

Word of the Week – Buck

This one also comes courtesy of my daughter and her history book, which includes fun little snippets about what words got their origins in the time she's studying (a history book after my own heart!). I think I'd heard this one before, but I'd forgotten. Ever wonder...

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Word of the Week – Sleep Tight

Word of the Week – Sleep Tight

In my house, this has become a bit of a joke. Not knowing--or pausing to ask--the origin of the phrase sleep tight, we just sort of assumed it was related to being tucked in. Rowyn, who likes to be tucked and covered, "sleeps tight." Xoe, who sleeps on top of her...

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Word of the Week – From Scratch

Word of the Week – From Scratch

My October baking has inspired looking into this one. Why, exactly, do we say something's made "from scratch" if it doesn't use a mix? Maybe y'all know this already, since it's pretty simple, but I was clueless, LOL. In my head, I think it may have had something to do...

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Word of the Week – Shrapnel

Word of the Week – Shrapnel

Writing war books as I for some bizarre reason seem to do quite a bit (built in conflict?), I occasionally find myself looking up terms that have to do with weapons, fighting, etc. And sometimes--like this time--I'm quite surprised by what I find! Apparently, I've...

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Word of the Week – Auditorium

Word of the Week – Auditorium

This is one of the words I'd just never paused to think about. Auditorium. It was always just the place we went to in school when the whole school needed to meet. But last week my husband went, "Oh! I'd never looked at auditorium this way before. As in, auditory. Plus...

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Word of the Week – Hose

Word of the Week – Hose

I know, I know. This seems like a strange choice of word for me to look up. 😉 But I had a moment last week when I was wondering how long the garden-hose type of thing had been in use, so I looked it up. As I do. And then was kind of amazed by the answer! Hose first...

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Word of the Week – $ and Dollar

Word of the Week – $ and Dollar

This one is yet again at the request of my kids, who asked why in the world we abbreviate "dollar" with $. (They also asked why they sometimes have one line through it and other times two.) So...though it has been suggested by some historians that the $ is related to...

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Word of the Week – Popsicle

Word of the Week – Popsicle

The heat of summer is fully upon us, and we all know nothing tastes as good on those hot summer days as cool treats. Ice cream, Popsicles, frozen coffees and yogurts and you-name-it. My assistant's little boy asked where the word Popsicle comes from, so this Word of...

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Word of the Week – Copperhead

Word of the Week – Copperhead

It has been a rainy, rainy summer here in West Virginia. The result? Critters everywhere they shouldn't be. We live in the woods, and the rodents and spiders inside this year have been terrible. Then...then...there's the copperheads. These venomous snakes usually...

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Word of the Week – Beware

Word of the Week – Beware

Last Wednesday, I was invited to speak at retailers event near Lancaster, PA. As my husband and I were driving through Pennsylvania, also known in our family as "the land of oh-so-helpful road signs," we saw first the "Don't Tailgate" sign. And then one that said...

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Word of the Week – Whisker

Word of the Week – Whisker

I live in a house with both a man and cats. So naturally, the debate about which came first, whisker for a man's facial hair or whisker for the long, sensitive hairs on a cat's face, has come up. (Yeah, okay, so my family's all weird, LOL. Or my word-nerd ways have...

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Word of the Week – Season

Word of the Week – Season

Before bed one night, while we were waiting for his sister to finish washing her face and brushing her teeth, my son and I were coming up with silly reasons for each season's name. It began with the easy-to-determine fall. "Hey!" Rowyn said, "I bet it's because of...

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Word of the Week – Slang

Word of the Week – Slang

Slang. Something we all know. And probably use. "Informal language." Those words not accepted as proper but not bad. That informal language is in fact usually "characterized by vividness and novelty." Mostly, the word hasn't changed that much...but it's broadened. And...

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Word of the Week – Fair

Word of the Week – Fair

It's summer. And so, as I was casting around looking for words to feature, my daughter said, "Do something summery! Like, you know...a carnival, or the fair." When I'm writing this, our County Fair has just finished up, and the neighboring county's is scheduled for a...

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Word of the Week – Circus

Word of the Week – Circus

I love that www.etymonline.com has a list of trending words. Sometimes I click on them solely out of curiosity...like when I saw circus on there today. Last May my family journeyed to Charleston, WV to attend one of the final shows of the Ringling Bros and Barnum...

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Word of the Week – Wed & Marry

Word of the Week – Wed & Marry

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary--17 years since I first said "I do" to the love of my life. 😀 So naturally, today I thought I'd take a look at the words! Wed is from Old English weddian, which means "to pledge oneself, vow; to betroth, to marry." This is similar...

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Word of the Week – Tootles

Word of the Week – Tootles

This one is a special request from my daughter, who came across it in a book. 😃 So, tootles. Being a 90s tween/teen, I grew up hearing this word as "goodbye" (or maybe it was toodles? Hard to say, as apparently it never appeared in writing, and it has no entry in any...

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Word of the Week – God

Word of the Week – God

Sometimes it's so interesting to look at the history of the words that are so very common to our language! God is certainly one of those. I'd heard at some point over the years that god and good are related . . . and I imagine most of you have heard the same. But...

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Word of the Week – Cookie

Word of the Week – Cookie

Time for a sweet treat of a word! Cookie. In American English, we all know what this means. Yummy... Tasty... Delicious sweet treats... My favorites are soft and chewy. Some prefer crisp and buttery. But in my opinion, all cookies are awesome. What they aren't,...

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Word of the Week – Nice

Word of the Week – Nice

Nice. Such a simple word, so well known...and so surprising! I happened to click onto it on www.etymonline.com because it was a trending word, and I was so shocked to see its evolution! Did you know that nice used to mean "foolish, stupid, senseless"? Apparently it's...

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Word of the Week – Pedestrian

Word of the Week – Pedestrian

If you've been hanging around my blog since 2011 (there are a few of you--you know who you are, LOL), then you may remember that I've featured this word before. And you may remember it solely because it was first ever Word of the Week. But since so many of my readers...

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Word of the Week – Grub

Word of the Week – Grub

Today's Word of the Week comes as a special request from Lynne F.'s nephew, who asked about grub, and how/when it came to be a slang word for food. Well, grub is the larva of an insect, and has meant that since the early 1400s. Etymologists aren't actually sure if...

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Word of the Week – Reckless Vs. Wreck

Word of the Week – Reckless Vs. Wreck

This is actually a repost of a word from 6 years ago, but my daughter asked me about it last week, so it seemed a fine time for a revisit. 😁 Reckless is one of those that always confused me as a kid. I mean, why was it reckLESS when you were indicating that people...

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Word of the Week – Hat Trick

Word of the Week – Hat Trick

Some families are football families. Baseball families. Basketball families. We are a hockey family. And since the playoff just began and we're cheering our Penguins on, I thought I'd pause to look at one of the hockey terms. (Okay, so it was a trending word on...

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Word of the Week – Mannequin

Word of the Week – Mannequin

I looked this one up, wanting to use it in a book set in 1917...only to find a history I knew nothing about! So mannequin has been around since 1902, but it wasn't a form used to display clothes. Or rather, not a non-living one. When mannequin first appeared, it was...

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Word of the Week – Easter

Word of the Week – Easter

I've done this Word of the Week before, but it was six years ago, so I figured a revisit wouldn't be begrudged by anyone. 😉 When Anglo-Saxon Christians first started celebrating the Mass of Christ's Resurrection, they gave it the name Easter, after Eastre, the...

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Word of the Week – Sabbath and Saturday

Word of the Week – Sabbath and Saturday

Today's Word of the Week is actually just inspired by www.etymonline.com's trending word list, LOL. Which is funny, because those who know me well know that my church has actually opted to keep Saturday as the Sabbath rather than Sunday, so you might think I have an...

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Word of the Week – Revolution

Word of the Week – Revolution

This week, something fun is happening, and I'm celebrating by making all the week's blog posts go to the theme. This week, the book previously known as Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland will re-release from WhiteFire as A Heart's Revolution. On Wednesday, I'll be...

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Word of the Week – University

Word of the Week – University

A couple weeks ago on the radio, I heard someone musing about the shift of the university experience from its origins. He was saying how university came from uni (one) + verity (truth), and how in recent years people have forgotten the one-truth bit and are instead...

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Word of the Week – Family

Word of the Week – Family

Yet another word I just never bothered to look up...but once I did, I was a bit surprised! PinterestGerman servants, early 1900s Did you know that family didn't mean "parents with their children" until 1660, though it was an English word since the early 1400s??? I...

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Word of the Week – Scrapbook

Word of the Week – Scrapbook

A commonplace book, circa mid-1600s. Photo via Beinecke Flickr Laboratory This special request comes from Bev Duell-Moore. =) And hilariously, as soon she asked me to feature it, I did a quick search...which came in mighty handy just a few days later, when I needed a...

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Word of the Week – Autograph

Word of the Week – Autograph

Upon special request, today we're going to look into the word autograph . . . which is fitting, since there are just a couple days left in this month's sale of autographed copies of The Reluctant Duchess! 😉 I didn't give it too much thought when this request came...

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Word of the Week – Nun

Word of the Week – Nun

This week's Word is another special request from Lynne F.  ~ Remember that any time you have one you'd like me to look up, just let me know! ~ Pinterest Nun dates back to the very beginnings of English, all the way to the days of Old English, when it was spelled...

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Word of the Week – Nurse

Word of the Week – Nurse

Today's Word of the Week is a special request from Lynne F. (and as a reminder, if ever you have a word you'd like me to look into, please feel free to let me know and I'll add it to my list!). Nurse is rather interesting, in that the noun and verb forms evolved a bit...

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Word of the Week – Recipe and Receipt

Word of the Week – Recipe and Receipt

I'd noticed when reading historical work--either original or fiction--that recipe and receipt were often used in ways that we today would deem, well, flipped. But I'd never really paused to look it up. I'm glad I just did, because I learned something! We'll start with...

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Word of the Week – Drapes

Word of the Week – Drapes

Yet another Word of the Week inspired by my weekend activities. 😉 I confess: I'm not a decorator. Most of the decorations in my house are books, LOL. (The best decorations, if I do say so myself.) Things like curtains...meh. I've put them up in most rooms, simply to...

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Word of the Week – Those Hats…

Word of the Week – Those Hats…

Last week, my friend Rachel McMillan (of Toronto) asked on Facebook what the different American regions called a certain type of hat. You know, that basic knit hat for the winter. There, she said, they universally called it a toque. Other answers included "winter hat,...

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Word of the Week – Yule

Word of the Week – Yule

Did you know that  yule and jolly are from the same root? According to some sources, both come from the Old Norse jol (that J would be pronounced like a Y--see my word of the week on the letter J), which was borrowed into Old French as well, as jolif, which...

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Word of the Week – Carol

Word of the Week – Carol

Last weekend, my church went to a nursing home (where we visit once a month) and sang carols with the residents. At which point, I realized that I'd never paused to look up the origin of the word! Carol dates from around 1300, meaning, "a joyful song." It came into...

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