Emily Brewster: Let us know what you think about Word Matters. Review us wherever you get your podcasts or email us at wordmatters@m-w.com. You can also visit us at nepm.org. And for the word of the dat and all your general dictionary needs visit, merriam-webster.com. Our theme mu...
The Etymology of the Word "Geometry":Though mathematics has been considered an essential subject in Western education since the Middle Ages, it was not always treated as a purely quantitative field of study. That is, it was sometimes combined with religious or mystical elements that saw numbers ...
“The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” We have extended the wordnestto apply to lots of nest-like things but many of these have their own names. A wasp’s nest is called a vespiary and a bee’s nest ...
Reveal the hidden meanings behind the names of key characters in the wizarding world, from Harry Potter himself to his destined rival - Lord Voldemort.
the reanalysis of a word by native speakers into a new element or elements, e.g.hamburger(properly ‘from Hamburg’) being split intoham-and-burger;and the subsequent combination of-burgerwith a number of words in which it is used to mean ‘ground patty.’ ...
The “al-” part of the word in Arabic is the definite article like “the” in English. The remaining “kimiya” has several possible origins depending on your view of history. “The Arabic form al-kimiya’ is the origin of the word alchemy which is used to denote the science of alchem...
Note on 'Rose of Sharon': In the Song of Solomon the bride of the story calls out something that is traditionally translated with "I am the rose of Sharon," (2:1) but 'rose' is not correct. The word isחבצלת(habasselet) and denotes a crocus or meadow saffron. But ...
phoneyet.Ifyoudothis,I'llbeoutoffashion.Bytheway, mobilephonesarecalledcellularphoneinEnglish.What exactlydoes"cellular"heremean? Teacher:therootistheLatinword"celare"(hidden,make,it isasecret)(cellcells),butcell'sintentionshouldbe"small room". ...
the definition of the worddisasteris "an occurrence causing widespread destruction and distress; a catastrophe" or "a grave misfortune." But the etymology of the worddisastertakes us back to a time when people commonly blamed great misfortunes on the influence of the stars. ...
"When people hear a foreign or unfamiliar word for the first time, they try to make sense of it by relating it to words they know well. They guess what it must mean--and often guess wrong. However, if enough people make the same wrong guess, the error can become part of the languag...