Welcome to Origin of the words
Thoughts, stories, and ideas from this author.
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Origin of the word "Money"
What speakers mean now In current English, money is the medium people use to pay for goods and services: coins, notes, balances in an account, and, more loosely, wealth counted in those terms. A perso
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Origin of the word "Leave"
What the verb does now In ordinary English, to leave is to go away. You leave a building, leave a job, leave the country. The same verb still does older work that has nothing to do with walking out: y
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Origin of the word "Long"
Stretch in space and in time In ordinary English, long is the everyday measure of extent. A river can be long. So can a meeting, a vowel, or a wait. The same shape of the word works as an adverb: peop
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Origin of the word "Keep"
Holding on, and watching over In modern English, keep is a short verb with a long reach. You keep a promise, keep a secret, keep going, keep house, keep livestock, and keep someone waiting. The shared
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Origin of the word "Great"
A word that now cheers more than it measures In current English, great still names large scale and high rank: a great river, a great power, a great-grandmother. Just as often it is a ready verdict of
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Origin of the word "Night"
A stretch of darkness with a long memory Night is the dark interval between sunset and sunrise, and English also uses the same noun for evening, for a period of sleep, and for darkness as a condition.
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Origin of the word "Home"
A place, and more than a building In present-day English, home is the place where someone lives, but the word is rarely only architectural. A house can be empty of feeling. A home is the familiar sett
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Origin of the word "Talk"
Everyday speech, not a borrowed ornament Talk is the ordinary English verb for exchanging words: conversation, discussion, the sound of people speaking. As a noun it covers the same ground and then so
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Origin of the word "Call"
A verb that still means raising the voice In everyday English, to call is to shout so that someone far off can hear, to summon a person, to give something a name, or to reach someone by phone. The nou
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Origin of the word "Stop"
Blocking first, standing still later In present-day English, stop can mean to cease moving or acting, or to prevent something else from going on. The same spelling also names a pause, a station, a tra
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Origin of the word "Wait"
Stillness that used to keep watch In current English, to wait is to stay in place, or in a state of readiness, until something happens: a train, a reply, a turn. The verb can also mean to serve custom
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Origin of the word "Must"
A modal that does two jobs In current English, must is a small, defective modal. It tells you that something is required: a law, a physical need, a social pressure, or a speaker’s insistence. It also
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Origin of the word "Work"
Effort, job, and the thing produced In present-day English, work names both the doing and the done. As a noun it can mean paid employment, the effort itself, a workplace, or a finished product: a book
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Origin of the word "Life"
What speakers mean by it now In present-day English, life is the everyday name for being alive: the condition that marks organisms off from dead tissue and from things that never lived, the span betwe
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Origin of the word "Help"
A verb English never had to borrow Speakers reach for help when they need aid, when they offer it, and when they shout for it. The verb covers giving assistance, easing a difficulty, and, with cannot,
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