50 Fun Facts About Vocabulary

Which verb for putting off a task until later is built on the Latin word for 'tomorrow'?

Procrastinate comes from the Latin 'procrastinare', to put off till tomorrow. Coleridge, who knew his Latin, jokingly called a habitual delayer a 'tomorrower'.

What does 'schadenfreude' mean, a German loanword one Victorian scholar thought fearful for a language to have?

Joy at others' misfortune is the sense: the word joins the German for 'harm' and 'joy'. English has used it as a word of its own since the 1920s.

Which word for a longing for the past was coined at the University of Basel as a medical term for homesickness?

Nostalgia was coined in 1688 by Johannes Hofer from the Greek for 'homecoming' and 'pain'. Doctors treated it as a real and sometimes fatal disease, at first thought peculiar to the Swiss.

Which reference work listing words of similar meaning takes its name from the Greek for 'treasure' or 'storehouse'?

Thesaurus is Greek for a treasure or storehouse, a label early dictionary makers liked for a 'treasury of words'. Roget's title of 1852 fixed its modern sense: words grouped by meaning.

What is 'serendipity', a word Horace Walpole coined from a Persian fairy tale about three princes?

A lucky discovery is the idea: Walpole wrote in 1754 that the princes of Serendip kept finding things they were not looking for. Serendip is an old name for Sri Lanka.

Which word for a person equally skilled with both hands literally means 'right-handed on both sides'?

Ambidextrous grew out of 'ambidexter', which in English first named a double-dealer who took bribes from both sides. The sense of skill with either hand appeared by the 1590s.

What does 'flabbergasted' mean, a word first noted in a 1772 magazine as fashionable new slang?

Utterly astonished is the meaning, though nobody is sure where the word came from. One guess is a playful formation echoing 'flabby' and 'aghast'.

What does 'draconian' mean when applied to laws, a word taken from the traditional first lawgiver of Athens?

Extremely harsh is the sense, because the code Draco set down for Athens around 621 BC is said to have punished even minor crimes with death. His name seems to mean 'sharp-sighted'.

Which word for throwing someone out of a window entered English after a 1618 incident at Prague Castle?

Defenestration was taken up in English after Protestant rebels threw two royal officials and their secretary from a castle window. All three survived, and the incident helped start the Thirty Years' War.

Which word for a person who preaches one thing but does another comes from the Greek for a stage actor?

Hypocrite comes from the Greek 'hypokrites', a stage actor, and so someone playing a part. English has used it since about 1200 for a false pretender to virtue or religion.

What does a person with triskaidekaphobia fear, a dread the composer Arnold Schoenberg is known to have had?

The number 13 is the dread, named from the Greek for 'thirteen'. Schoenberg is said to have feared dying in a year that was a multiple of it.

What does 'frugal' mean, a word that grew from the Latin for 'fruit' or 'produce'?

Careful with money is the sense, reached in Latin by steps from 'useful' to 'profitable' to 'economical'. The root 'frux' meant fruit or produce, and so value or success.

Which word for 'kindly and well-meaning' is built from the Latin for 'well' and 'wishing'?

Benevolent joins the Latin 'bene', well, and 'volens', wishing. English took it up in the 15th century for anyone well-disposed and wishing to do good.

What does 'jovial' mean, a nature astrologers once credited to people born under the planet Jupiter?

Cheerful and friendly was the temperament astrologers gave to those born under Jupiter. Jove, the root of the word, is another name for that Roman god of the sky.

What does 'penultimate' mean, a word built on 'paene', the Latin for 'almost'?

Second to last is the meaning: Latin 'paene', almost, plus 'ultimus', final. The same 'almost' hides in peninsula, which is literally almost an island.

Which term for a word of opposite meaning entered English in the 1860s as a counterpart to 'synonym'?

Antonym joins the Greek for 'opposite' and 'name', and may have been introduced by an 1867 volume titled Synonyms and Antonyms. French and German had the word first.

What is a 'faux pas', a French phrase that literally means a 'false step'?

A social blunder is the sense: a misstep in manners rather than on the stairs. English has used the phrase since the 1670s for any act that compromises a reputation.

What does a 'bibliophile' love, a word that shares its Greek root with 'Bible'?

Books are a bibliophile's passion: 'biblio-' goes back to 'byblos', the Greek for Egyptian papyrus. That may come from Byblos, the Phoenician port that shipped papyrus to Greece.

What does a modern 'Luddite' oppose, a name first taken by a band of English weavers in 1811?

New technology is the target: the original Luddites spent about five years destroying machinery they feared would take their work. The label was turned on modern technophobes by 1961.

Which verb for teasing someone with something kept out of reach comes from a king punished in Greek myth?

Tantalize recalls Tantalus, who stood in water beneath boughs of fruit that drew back whenever he tried to eat or drink. The metal tantalum was named after him too.

What does 'gregarious' describe in a person, a word built on 'grex', the Latin for a flock?

A love of company is the human sense, first recorded in 1789. For more than a century before that, the word described animals that live in flocks and herds.

What does 'ephemeral' mean, a word that shares its Greek root with Ephemeroptera, the scientific order of mayflies?

Short-lived is the meaning, from the Greek for 'lasting only a day'. English first used the word of one-day fevers before stretching it to anything fleeting.

What does 'ubiquitous' mean, a word that grew from a theological term for an attribute of God?

Found everywhere is the sense, from the Latin 'ubique'. 'Ubiquity' entered English in the 1570s for the divine capacity to be in countless places at the same moment.

What does 'candid' mean, a word from the Latin for 'white' that also gave English 'candidate'?

Frank and honest is the sense, a metaphor from a Latin word for white, pure and sincere. Roman office-seekers wore gleaming whitened togas, which is how the same root produced 'candidate'.

Which word for 'sluggish and drowsy' shares its root with the river of forgetfulness in Greek myth?

Lethargic comes from the Greek 'lethargos', forgetful, built on 'lethe', forgetting, and 'argos', idle. The same 'argos' later named the unreactive gas argon.

Which word for favouring relatives with jobs comes from the Italian for 'nephew', after favours granted by popes?

Nepotism comes from the Italian 'nepote', nephew. It first described popes handing privileges to a 'nephew', which was often a polite word for an illegitimate son.

Which word for someone who speaks several languages comes from the Greek for 'many-tongued'?

Polyglot joins the Greek 'polys', many, and 'glotta', tongue or language. A 'gloss', a note inserted to explain a hard word, comes from the same Greek root.

Which term for a mild expression swapped in for a blunt one comes from the Greek for 'speaking with fair words'?

Euphemism comes from a Greek verb for using words of good omen, a superstitious habit at religious rites. The Greeks even gave the vengeful Furies a flattering name, the Eumenides.

Which term for deliberate exaggeration for effect comes from the Greek for 'a throwing beyond'?

Hyperbole joins the Greek 'hyper', beyond, and 'bole', a throwing: an overshoot made on purpose. Aristotle was already using it as a term of rhetoric.

Which word for chasing noble but impractical ideals comes from the hero of a Cervantes novel?

Quixotic comes from Don Quixote, the knight of Cervantes's 1605 satire who keeps attempting the impossible. His name literally means 'thigh', after a piece of leg armour.

Which word for using very few words comes from the region of ancient Greece that was home to Sparta?

Laconic comes from Laconia, the district around Sparta, whose people prized saying much in little. When Philip of Macedon warned what he would do if he invaded, their whole reply was 'If.'

What does 'loquacious' mean, a word that shares its Latin root with 'eloquent' and 'ventriloquist'?

Very talkative is the meaning, from the Latin 'loqui', to speak. A ventriloquist is literally a belly-speaker, and a soliloquy is a talking to oneself.

What does 'pugnacious' mean, a word built on 'pugnus', the Latin for a fist?

Eager to fight is the sense, from the Latin 'pugnare', to fight, especially with the fists. The same root gives 'pugilist' for a boxer and 'repugnant', literally fighting back.

What does 'magnanimous' mean, a word whose Latin parts translate as 'great-souled'?

Generous and forgiving is today's sense: too big in spirit for petty resentment. When the word arrived in the 1580s it meant nobly brave or valiant.

What does 'mercurial' describe, a word tied to the planet Mercury and to the liquid metal of the same name?

Quick, changeable moods were what astrologers expected of people born under Mercury. The restless liquid metal of the same name probably reinforced the sense.

Which word for 'extremely careful about detail' first meant 'fearful' or 'timid' when English borrowed it?

Meticulous comes from the Latin 'metus', fear, and meant timid until that sense died out around 1700. It came back in the 1840s meaning fussy about details, by way of French.

Which word, now used for something shockingly bad, meant 'distinguished' or 'excellent' when it entered English?

Egregious comes from the Latin for 'rising above the flock' and at first meant eminent. The disapproving sense began as irony in the late 16th century and then took over.

Which word for selfless concern for others was coined or popularised by French philosopher Auguste Comte?

Altruism was Comte's term for the opposite of egoism, built on the French 'autrui', other people. English borrowed it in 1853.

What does 'stoic' describe, a word from the painted porch in Athens where the philosopher Zeno taught?

Enduring pain calmly is the everyday sense, recorded by the 1570s. Zeno's followers were named after the Stoa Poikile, a hall decorated with frescoes of the Battle of Marathon.

What does 'Machiavellian' mean, a word from the Florentine statesman who wrote The Prince?

Cunning and deceitful is the charge, because The Prince advised rulers to put advantage above morality. English was using the insult decades before the work was translated in 1640.

What does 'pulchritude' mean, a word English took around 1400 from the Latin 'pulcher'?

Physical beauty is the meaning, however unlovely the word may sound. Its Latin root 'pulcher', beautiful, is itself a word of unknown origin.

Which word for someone fond of very long words literally means 'a foot and a half long'?

Sesquipedalian comes from Horace, who mocked 'sesquipedalia verba', words a foot and a half long, in his Ars Poetica. The term neatly illustrates the very thing it describes.

What does 'pusillanimous' mean, a word Church Latin used to translate the Greek for 'small-souled'?

Lacking courage is the meaning: the Latin joins 'pusillus', very weak or little, with 'animus', spirit. 'Pusillus' is itself a diminutive of the word for a young animal.

What does 'supercilious' mean, a word built on 'supercilium', the Latin for an eyebrow?

Haughty and disdainful is the sense, from the idea of raising an eyebrow to show contempt. In Latin 'supercilium' already meant pride as well as the brow itself.

What does 'lugubrious' mean, a word English formed around 1600 from the Latin 'lugubris'?

Mournful and gloomy is the sense, from the Latin 'lugere', to mourn. That verb may go back to an ancient root for breaking or causing pain, which also gave Greek a word for mournful.

What does 'perspicacious' mean, a word from the Latin for 'looking through' something?

Sharply perceptive is the meaning: the Latin 'perspicax' described someone with the power of seeing through things. Its cousin 'perspicuous' describes what is clear and easy to understand.

What does 'obsequious' mean, a word built on 'sequi', the Latin verb for following?

Overeager to please is the modern sense. For its first century in English the word was a compliment meaning dutiful and prompt to serve; the fawning sense emerged by the 1590s.

What does the verb 'enervate' mean, a word whose Latin source literally meant to cut the sinews?

To weaken is the meaning, however much the word sounds like 'energise'. The Latin 'enervare' joined 'ex', out, and 'nervus', sinew.

What does 'noisome' most often describe today, a word related to 'annoy' that first meant harmful?

A foul smell is the usual modern sense, dating from the 1570s. The word began as 'noy', a clipped form of annoyance, plus the ending '-some'.

When are 'crepuscular' animals most active, a habit zoologists set apart from nocturnal and diurnal life?

At twilight is the answer, from the Latin 'crepusculum', dusk. Zoologists split the habit further: matutinal animals favour dawn, vespertine ones the evening.