Word of the Week

Word history and etymology

Word of the Week – Moon
We talk a lot at Word of the Week about words that are shockingly new or have interesting roots. Well, moon is neither of those things. 😉 But it's still a fascinating word to study, because of its ancient, ANCIENT history. It's no great surprise that the biggest...
Word of the Week – Resurrect
Did you know that resurrect didn't exist as a word until the 1770s?! I know, go ahead. Shake your head and said, "Nuh uh!" I know I did. But it's true! Resurrect is what etymologists refer to as a "back-formation." Which is to say, we've had the noun, resurrection, in...
Word of the Week – Palm
Since yesterday was Palm Sunday, I thought it would be fun to look at the etymology of the word palm. Not shockingly, it's been in English a long time--since the 1300s. And it comes from a root that means "flat." So in reference to the palm of the hand, it's...
Word of the Week – Peruse
Did you know that peruse is its own opposite? In the late 1400s, the word peruse was created to mean "to go through something with extreme detail or careful scrutiny." It comes from per- (completely) combined with use. By the 1530s, it was applied specifically to...

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 – Leprechaun

Word of the Week – Leprechaun

As we prepare for St. Patrick’s Day, let’s take a minute to look at the meaning of the little fae dressed in green that we sometimes associate with the day: leprechauns!

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Word of the Week – Guy

Word of the Week – Guy

“Guy” didn’t use to be a word for any male…in fact, it began life in English very differently, and we owe a French terrorist for its change.

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Word of the Week – Love

Word of the Week – Love

“Love” is a word so common we probably never to stop to wonder about it…but as we’re approaching the Sunday of Love during Advent, let’s look deeper!

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Word of the Week – Joy

Word of the Week – Joy

“Joy” is a word so common we probably never to stop to wonder about it…but as we’re in the week of Joy during Advent, let’s look deeper!

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Word of the Week – Peace

Word of the Week – Peace

“Peace” is a word so common we probably never to stop to wonder about it…but as we’re in the week of Peace during Advent, let’s look deeper!

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Word of the Week – Hope

Word of the Week – Hope

“Hope” is a word so common we probably never to stop to wonder about it…but as we’re in the week of Hope during Advent, let’s look deeper!

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Word of the Week – Halloween

Word of the Week – Halloween

Here we are again, back in the last days of October...which of course means HALLOWEEN (imagine me saying it in that exaggerated spooky voice, will you? LOL). So of course, I looked up what I've posted about it before. And yes, this is just last year's post, recycled....

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Word of the Week – Sophomore

Word of the Week – Sophomore

We know “sophomore” as the second–second year of school, or even one’s second book and so on. But you’ll get a laugh out of where it comes from!

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Word of the Week – Season (Archive)

Word of the Week – Season (Archive)

Originally published July 2018 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...

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Word of the Week – Coffee (Archive)

Word of the Week – Coffee (Archive)

Last published June 2017. I've featured this word a few times now before, and I know much of my readership has changed over the years. And let’s be honest–coffee deserves to be featured again. Because it’s one of the most beautiful creations in the universe. 😉 The...

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Word of the Week – Surf (Archive)

Word of the Week – Surf (Archive)

Originally Published September 2019 Surf began its life as a noun meaning “waves coming ashore” in about 1680, though it was quite likely a variation on suffe, from the 1590s. Where did it come from? No one’s quite sure. But it was originally used to describe the...

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