Welcome to Origin of the words
Thoughts, stories, and ideas from this author.
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Origin of the word "Chance"
What English uses the word for In current English the noun covers several jobs that still sit close together. It can be an opening worth taking, a degree of likelihood, luck treated as an impersonal f
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Origin of the word "Sleep"
English speakers use sleep for the nightly drop in consciousness, for a stretch of rest, and, more loosely, for anything that has gone quiet: a computer, a numb limb, a question left unanswered. The v
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Origin of the word "Afraid"
A state, not a label in front of a noun In current English, afraid is the ordinary word for being frightened, anxious, or unwilling to face something. People are afraid of heights, afraid to ask, or a
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Origin of the word "Body"
Flesh, a person, and a mass In present-day English, body names the physical frame of a human or animal, the trunk as opposed to the head and limbs, and a dead body. It also names a person, as in someb
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Origin of the word "Making"
What the word does in English now In current English, making is both a verb form and a noun. As a participle it marks action still underway: someone is making dinner, making a case, making trouble. As
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Origin of the word "Mine"
Two histories behind one spelling English uses mine for what belongs to the speaker, for a working that takes ore from the ground, and for a hidden explosive. Those senses share a spelling and a sound
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Origin of the word "Inside"
What the word does now In present-day English, inside is the ordinary name for an interior: the space within a building, the inner face of a wall, the hollow of a vessel. The same form works as an adv
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Origin of the word "Point"
English speakers lean on this short word for almost everything that can be small, sharp, or decisive. A needle has one. A coastline can end in one. A debate has one. A game is won by them. In geometry
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Origin of the word "Means"
What the word does in English now In ordinary English, means is the name for the method, instrument, or condition that gets something done. A bus is a means of transport. Diplomacy can be a means to a
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Origin of the word "Different"
What speakers mean now Call two things different and the claim is usually modest: they are not the same. The adjective covers unlikeness in kind, quality, amount, or identity. It also marks things as
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Origin of the word "Deal"
Splitting, sharing, and striking a bargain In current English, deal does more than one job. As a verb it can mean to distribute, to trade, to handle a difficulty, or to give someone a blow. As a noun
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Origin of the word "Check"
A verb that inspects, a noun that stops In everyday English, check is a crowded word. You check a lock, a figure, or a story. You write a check to a bank, or ask for the check after a meal. On a chess
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Origin of the word "Easy"
Comfort before difficulty Today easy is the ordinary opposite of hard: a task that asks for little skill or strain. Speakers also still rest easy, sit in an easy chair, or take it easy, where comfort
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Origin of the word "Drink"
What English still means by drink English drink covers two tightly related ideas. As a verb it names the act of taking liquid into the mouth and swallowing it. As a noun it names the liquid itself, a
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Origin of the word "Five"
A number that barely moved Five is the English name for the integer after four. Speakers use it as a cardinal (five days), as a label for a set of that size (a basketball five), and, in North American
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