Word for Wednesday: Renew

blog home

As the end of the year approaches, I find myself thinking about what I want from the New Year. In the past, on the blog, we’ve looked at the word ‘resolution’ as part of the Word for Wednesday feature, came up with spelling resolutions, and looked at idioms for new beginnings. For me the New Year is a time of renewal. In my resolutions, I try to refocus on old projects with fresh eyes just as much as I like to find new ones.

The word ‘renew’ dates back to the late fourteenth century, from the prefix ‘re-’ meaning ‘again’ and the Middle English ‘newen’ meaning ‘resume, revive, renew’. ‘New’ comes from the Old English ‘niwe’ meaning ‘new, fresh, recent, novel, unheard-of, different from the old, untried, inexperienced’, which in turn comes from the Proto-Germanic ‘newjaz’.

What do you want to achieve in 2016?


30 Dec 2015
blog home

"I love your course..... you explain so much that I didn't know, forgot, or wasn't taught."

Adult student, USA