The word "mystery" and its cousin “mystic” both trace back to Latin and Greek words (mysterium and mysteria) for secrets, especially religious rites performed by secret orders. The Greek root myein means "to close" or "to shut." Even in English, "mystery" was first used in a theological context, referring to divine revelations and mystical truths, but it… Continue reading The Etymology of “Mystery”
You’ve probably heard of collective nouns for animals like a herd of cattle or a murder of crows—or perhaps… a prickle of porcupinesa flamboyance of flamingoesan ambush of tigersan exaltation of larksa dazzle of zebras These are called nouns of assembly or terms of venery, where "venery" is a word for the sport of hunting… Continue reading An Elocution of of Etymologists: Nouns of Assembly or Terms of Venery
Pop quiz! What do you think the original meaning of the word “quiz” was? If you know the answer, someone from the 1700s might call you a quiz. Now the word “quiz” as in the thing you take at school most likely comes from the Latin qui es? meaning “who are you?” In the 1800s,… Continue reading The Etymology of “Quiz”
Words like "thingamajig," "whatsit" and "doohickey" are called “placeholder names” or kadigans. The origin of “kadigan” isn’t clear. Some suggest it could somehow be related to the generic word “gin,” as in a “cotton gin,” (not related to the drink) which is a shortening of the word “engine” and took the place of engine in… Continue reading What Is a “Whatsit”? On Kadigans, or Placeholder Names
The difference between a turtle and a tortoise can be confusing: Technically, all turtles, tortoises and terrapins belong ARE turtles and belong to the turtle order Testudines, which comes from the Latin word testa, meaning "shell" But for the most part, people use the word “tortoise” to refer to completely land-dwelling turtle species, while the generic word “turtle”… Continue reading The (Etymological) Difference Between Tortoises and Turtles
One of my favorite things about the English language is how many perfectly innocent-sounding words are a little bit less wholesome than you might expect. Take the word "gym," for instance—that’s gym as in gymnasium, the place where you go to work out, train or play sports. Gymnasium is a Latin word, and originally comes… Continue reading The Naked Truth About “Gymnasium”
The lessons I share here are often classifiable as trivia: little bits of information that are of little consequence outside of being curiosities. You might call them “trivialities"—even though I, and most of you, agree that words and their origins are not trivial and do matter a great deal. Trivia is a Latin word, the… Continue reading The Etymology of Trivia: A Place Where Three Roads Meet
Space-related words have some of the most enchanting etymologies in the cosmos.We call our galaxy the Milky Way because the stars and other matter that compose it look like milk splashed across the night sky. But did you know that’s also where the word “galaxy” itself comes from? It originally comes from the Greek phrase… Continue reading Out of This Word: The Origins of 5 Intergalactic Terms
The planet Earth gets its name from the Old English eorþe, meaning “dirt, soil, or country.” In Old English, it was also occasionally used as a verb meaning to bury or inter someone. In Old English “earth" was also a word for the material human world, but it was more commonly known as Middangeard, as recorded… Continue reading The Origin of “Earth”
