Welcome to Origin of the words
Thoughts, stories, and ideas from this author.
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Origin of the word "Office"
A post, a duty, and a room In everyday English an office is a room, a suite, or a building where clerical and professional work is done. The same noun still names the post itself: people run for offic
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Origin of the word "Trust"
Reliance that later named a legal hold In everyday English, trust is the confidence you place in a person, a process, or a promise: that someone will tell the truth, keep a secret, or not fail under p
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Origin of the word "Town"
A settlement that began as a yard In modern English a town is a populated place with streets, shops, and some form of local government, usually larger than a village and smaller than a city. Speakers
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Origin of the word "Walk"
A pace English treats as its own Today walk is the ordinary English verb for moving on foot slower than a run. It also names the outing itself, a path laid out for that outing, and, more loosely, a wa
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Origin of the word "City"
A label for a large town In ordinary English a city is a large, important settlement, denser and more self-governing than a town. British usage also treats the word as a legal rank granted by the Crow
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Origin of the word "Break"
What speakers do with it now English break covers a smashed dish, a snapped bone, a pause between lessons, a run of luck, and a promise that has been ignored. The physical sense is still the centre: t
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Origin of the word "Trouble"
A word for difficulty and unrest In modern English, trouble covers a wide patch of discomfort. As a noun it can mean a hard situation, a source of worry, public unrest, extra effort, a health problem,
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Origin of the word "Reason"
What speakers mean by it In current English the noun covers two clusters that feel distinct until you look at the history. A reason is a cause, a motive, or an explanation offered for a choice. Reason
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Origin of the word "Shot"
What the word does now In present-day English, shot is the firing of a weapon, the pellet or ball that leaves it, and the attempt to hit. The same noun covers a try at almost anything, a take with a c
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Origin of the word "Lady"
A polite word with a household past In current English, lady is first of all a word for an adult woman, usually with a shade of courtesy. Speakers use it in set addresses such as ladies and gentlemen,
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Origin of the word "Able"
Fitness in the hand In current English, able usually means having the power, skill, resources, or permission to get something done. We say a person is able to lift a crate, or able to vote, or simply
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Origin of the word "Blood"
In everyday English, blood is the red fluid that moves through veins and arteries, carrying oxygen and nutrients. The same noun also names kinship, temper, and violence: blood relatives, hot blood, a
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Origin of the word "Truth"
What speakers mean by it now In present-day English, truth is first of all correspondence with fact: the way things are, a report that matches them, or a proposition held to be so. People tell the tru
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Origin of the word "Behind"
A locator with several jobs In present-day English, behind marks what sits at the rear or on the far side of a reference point. A wall can hide a garden. A runner can finish last in the field. A clock
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Origin of the word "Child"
What the word covers now In present-day English, child does two jobs that speakers rarely bother to separate. It names a young human who has not yet reached adulthood, whether that line is drawn at pu
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