The Origins of the Word Blog. Learn more about the British Empire … For nearly 10 days, the world's hottest art wasn't in New York, Paris, or Los Angeles, but in the desolate Utah desert. British Empire, a worldwide system of dependencies—colonies, protectorates, and other territories—that over a span of some three centuries was brought under the sovereignty of the crown of Great Britain and the administration of the British government. This page is a short history of the origins and development of the English language. But why did this wonderful tool of immunization, which constitutes one of the “greatest hits” in the entire history of medicine, get its name from a virus that attacks cows? The Ugly, Fascinating History Of The Word 'Racism' : Code Switch The first recorded utterance of the word was by a man named Richard Henry … A Protestant is someone who follows one of the numerous branches of Protestantism, the form of Christianity that was created during the Reformation of the 16th century and spread across Europe (and later, the world). The Truth: This email is a hoax. History of the OED. For centuries, Christmas was celebrated not as a single day, but as a whole season in parts of the world, beginning with this day, December 24, Christmas Eve. history definition: 1.   Learn more. The word vaccine, and vaccination, actually comes from the name for a pox virus—the cowpox virus, vaccinia, to be exact. Word History The History of 'Squirrel' They're nearly everywhere, so you might as well know what their name means. What is the history of the Oxford English Dictionary? With precious few exceptions, words of acronymic origin date from the 20th century and no earlier. Word history traces the path of human fellowship, the bridges from mend to mind, from nation to nation." Origin of "Doctor" The English language history of doctor starts in the early 14th century, when the word was first applied to a select few who likely knew neither bloodwork nor basketwork. Even after the decline of Norman, standard French retained the status of a formal or prestige language, and about 10,000 French (and Norman) loan words entered Middle English, particularly terms associated with government, church, law, the military, fashion, and food (see English language word origins and List of English words of French origin). But, as with a respected professor or admired parent, we count on its wisdom and authority without thinking much about how it was acquired. The Origin of Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, historical evidence enabling the origin of this expression to be finally and firmly established may be hard to unearth. Words from more than 350 languages have entered English in this way. The Origins of Geocaching. The Oxford English Dictionary has been the last word on words for over a century. December 25 has become widely accepted as the date of Jesus’ birth. Geocaching, first coined by Matt Stum on the "GPS Stash Hunt" mailing list on May 30, 2000, was the joining of two familiar words. The Blog Herald cites the origins of the term weblog to G. Raikundalia & M. Rees, two lecturers from Bond University on the Gold Coast. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. The history of the Internet dates back significantly further than that of the World Wide Web. The origin of mass, in the Christian sense of the word, is not entirely clear. World History; Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives. Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions. The ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, some 4,000 years ago. Although a Germanic language in its sounds and grammar, the bulk of English vocabulary is in fact Romance or Classical in origin. The first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was applied not to holiday shopping but to financial crisis: specifically, the crash of the U.S. gold market on September 24, 1869. The prefix geo, for Earth, was used to describe the global nature of the activity, but also for its use in familiar topics in gps such as geography. As a word, robot is a relative newcomer to the English language. Christmas has also become a secular family holiday that is observed by Christians and non-Christians, is marked by the exchange of gifts, and features the mythical figure of Santa Claus. Listener, WFBR, Baltimore. You got your yankers, obviously you also got your yankees. What is the origin of the word "Yankee"? The World Wide Web ("WWW" or "The Web") is a global information medium which users can access via computers connected to the Internet.The term is often mistakenly used as a synonym for the Internet itself, but the Web is a service that operates over the Internet, just as email and Usenet also do. There is no historical evidence that “Ship High in Transit” aboard ships was the origin for the word “shit.” The eRumor has circulated on the Internet since about 2000. The origin of the ampersand can be traced back to the Latin word et, meaning ‘and’. One popular theory is that the gesture began as a way of conveying peaceful intentions. Christmas, Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus. See more from Word Origins Word of the day But to find the origin of the word, we have to look back to mid-14th century Europe. [The origin of the word ‘quark’ is a tale of particle physics, Aristotle, and James Joyce.] The concept of fried dough is not exclusive to one country or culture and variations of the doughnut can be seen across the globe.Although the exact place, time, and person responsible for creating the doughnut are unknown, there are a few events in the history of the doughnut that stand out. Home History of the OED. Starting in 1343, the disease wiped out an estimated one-third of Europe’s population during a particularly nasty period of three years between 1347-50. This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history. Word origin knowledge, according to Joseph T. Shipley, author of Dictionary of Word Origins (Littlefield, Adams & Co., 1967), is "to know how men think, how they have fashioned their civilization. Cecil replies: Cecil replies: What’s so complicated? (the study of or a record of) past events considered together, especially events of a particular…. However, I can’t claim the etymological authorities are exactly lining up to embrace this notion. The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. The handshake has existed in some form or another for thousands of years, but its origins are somewhat murky. Kelly Grovier explores the unexpected origins of seven terms coined in art history, including the political meaning of ‘silhouette’ – and the roots of the word ‘mob’. We know it comes from Latin missa , but there are several competing theories as to what missa is supposed to mean. At the time, the bubonic plague, infamously known as the Black Death, was ripping through the continent. Writing the word this way saved the writer time, with one letter flowing seamlessly into the next – a form of cursive or joined up writing. The heart shape is recognized the world over as a symbol of romantic love and affection, but its historical origins are difficult to pin down. The ubiquitous squirrel, busily rushing about our yards and gardens and parks and cities, has had its English name since the 14th century. The origin of the doughnut is heavily debated. The E and the T that make up this word were occasionally written together to form a ligature (a character consisting of two or more joined letters). Like French, Spanish, and Russian, English frequently forms scientific terms from Classical Greek word elements. In other words, away from the bottom of the ship and the potential of coming into contact with water. Illustration by Slug Signorino. The American Dream's Origins . The Declaration of Independence states the principles that underlie the American Dream: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It was the brainchild of a brilliant Czech playwright, novelist and journalist named Karel Čapek (1880-1938) who introduced it in his 1920 hit play, R.U.R., or Rossum’s Universal Robots.