Word of the Week – Science

by Roseanna White | Nov 13, 2017 | Word of the Week

These days, when people say science, they have a particular thing in mind, right? Chemistry, biology, anatomy, physics, etc. But did you know that science used to be a far more general term?

The word dates from the 14th century, from the French word of the exact same spelling, and it meant broadly “what is known; knowledge acquired by study; information.” The French, in turn, came from the Latin scientia, which means “a knowing, knowledge, expertness.” This most likely came from scire, which means “to divide; differentiate.”

Back in the 1300s, this word was used for general book-learning. By the end of the century, it was that learning especially gained by observation. The modern, restricted sense of science didn’t come along until the mid 1700s and was commonly called philosophy as well.

Don’t forget that tonight I’ll be chatting on Facebook Live about the inspiration and behind-the-scenes of Giver of Wonders! Hope to see you all there at 7 p.m. Eastern. =)

Word of the Week – Romance

by Roseanna White | Nov 6, 2017 | Word of the Week

Last week, in talking about the word novel, I mentioned that novels were previously referred to as romances, which of course set us up perfectly for this week’s Word. =)

Since around 1300, romance meant “a story, written or recited, of a knight, hero, etc.” Why were they called romance? Because they were told in the everyday, vernacular language of a place rather than in Latin, and romance was also the word used for everyday, vernacular French. This comes from the Vulgar Latin romanice scribere, “to write in a Romance language,” which is to, one derived from Latin. (I daresay most of us have heard of “the romance language” of Spanish, French, etc.)

By the 1660s, the literary definition had expanded to mean “a love story.” Interestingly though, it wasn’t applied to an out-of-literature love affair until 1916–who knew? Romance novels have only been a recognized genre in an of themselves since 1964.

Also interesting is that the verb, to romance someone, is only from 1934. Before that it meant “to invent fictitious love stories.”

Word of the Week – Novel

by Roseanna White | Oct 30, 2017 | Word of the Week

I’m not sure how I’ve managed to go this long without featuring the most obvious word in the world as my Word of the Week ~ Novel ~ but it’s high time I remedy that oversight!

We’re all probably familiar with the two ways novel is used in English today–“A novel idea” and “the best sort of written work.” 😉

As it happens, that adjective use predates the noun by a good bit, coming directly from novellus, which means “new, young, recent.” It appeared in English in the 1400s, with an added sense of “unique, unusual.”

In the 1560s, the Italians began calling short stories (“new stories”) novellas, particularly when part of a larger work–specifically given first to the stories of Boccaccio. By the 1630s, novel was being used for longer works of fiction–books which had been previously been called romances.

Which will be our Word of the Week next week. 😉

And, in keeping with the theme, tonight I’ll be chatting about books I’ve been reading on Facebook Live, and I’d love to hear about your recent reading list too! Novels and non-fiction suggestions alike are welcome. =) Join me on Facebook at 7 p.m. EST!

Word of the Week – Fall, Autumn, and Harvest

by Roseanna White | Oct 23, 2017 | Word of the Week

Saturday as the kids and I were driving Rowyn to a birthday party, they were observing that it was way too warm for fall, and all the trees were still green . . . and Xoë

then said, “I don’t like that we call it fall. It should be autumn. Why did we ever start doing that?”

I knew the basics, but they didn’t begin to satisfy my word-picky daughter (girl after my own heart! LOL), so since today is her birthday and this amazing girl is now 12 (should NOT be possible!), I figured I would do the word of her choice. =)

Not surprising, the primary meaning of fall–“a falling to the ground”–is as old as English itself, dating to Old English in the 1200s. The sense of “autumn” came along in the 1600s, a shortened version of the poetic “fall of the leaf,” a saying that originated round about 1540. In the 1600s, fall was used for the season in England quite often–I assume those English speakers who came to America used it, and it stayed in use here while it fell out of it in England, because these days only the US uses it.

Though let it be noted that autumn isn’t all that much older. Though a word in English from the late 1300s (from the French and the Latin, though its origins are a bit obscure), harvest was actually the word for the season until the 1500s, when autumn began to take over. So it appears that autumn only reigned for about a hundred years before fall entered the scene, and now both are used.

Interestingly, though words for the other seasons all seem to come from a common root across the Indo-European languages, autumn does not. There are a wide variety of words for it that have nothing in common–some that take their roots from “end, end of summer” ideas, and others from the colors that dominate the season, like red, still others with a meaning that hints at the beginning of winter.

Whatever you call the season, I hope you’re enjoying it as much as my autumn-born daughter does! Happy birthday, Xoë!

Xoë at her party yesterday, in Ancient Greek style–complete with a gold laurel crown.