Our Word for Wednesday theme for 2023 is tricky spelling words. This year, after sharing the definition and etymology of each week’s word, we will end every blog post with some tips and tricks to help you spell it. Last month we shared tips for spelling immediately, ceiling, decide, and disappoint. Our first tricky spelling word for May is embarrass. If you embarrass someone it means you make them feel self-conscious, uncomfortable, or ashamed. If you feel embarrassed it means you experience self-consciousness, awkwardness or shame. Here is embarrass used in some example sentences: She embarrassed her brother by telling ever...
Our Word for Wednesday theme this month is fireworks. A firework is a device with an explosive that burns with coloured flames. The word dates to the 1570s fro Over November we’ve looked at the words sparkler, fountain, and Catherine wheel. Our final fireworks-themed word for the month is rocket. A rocket is a firework that propels high into the sky when lit and produces sparks and whistles. The word has been used since the 1610s and comes from the Italian ‘rocchetto’ which means 'bobbin' (in reference to how a rocket spins), from ‘rocca’ meaning ‘distaff’. The word took on its space-related meaning in ...
Our Word for Wednesday theme for June is coffee. Coffee is made by roasting and grinding coffee beans and creating an infusion. The word coffee entered English around 1600 via the Dutch ‘koffie’, which comes from the Turkish ‘kahveh', from the Arabic ‘qahwah’. So far we’ve looked at the words espresso, cappuccino, macchiato, and latte. Our final word of the month is Americano. An Americano is made by adding hot water to espresso, and the word is simply Italian for ‘American coffee’. One popular theory behind the origin of the Americano ...
Work your way from a Spelling Newbie to a Spelling Grandmaster by earning achievement points! New Student Titles are now live on Spellzone. Click here to learn how many points you need for each level. If you are a teacher, you can find out a student’s current level by clicking on the star on their profile picture. We have also added Student Titles to the results overview spreadsheet. You can download this at the bottom of your student roll and class pages. We have recently added a bank of Tier 2 words to our Curriculum Word Lists page. Tier 2 words are less common than high frequency words (Tier 1) and are often integral to the compre...
Our Word for Wednesday theme for June is coffee. Coffee is made by roasting and grinding coffee beans and creating an infusion. The word coffee entered English around 1600 via the Dutch ‘koffie’, which comes from the Turkish ‘kahveh', from the Arabic ‘qahwah’. So far we’ve looked at the words espresso, cappuccino, and macchiato. Today’s word is latte. Latte literally means ‘milk coffee’ and refers to an espresso served with hot milk. The word comes from the Latin ‘lac’ meaning ‘milk’. ...
Our Word for Wednesday theme for June is coffee. Coffee is made by roasting and grinding coffee beans and creating an infusion. The word coffee entered English around 1600 via the Dutch ‘koffie’, which comes from the Turkish ‘kahveh', from the Arabic ‘qahwah’. So far we’ve looked at the words espresso and cappuccino. Today’s word is macchiato. A macchiato is an espresso with a small amount of milk added to it. In Italian, the word means ‘stained’ or ‘spotted’ and it was first used in reference to coffee when baristas needed to differentiate between esp...
Our Word for Wednesday theme for June is coffee. Coffee is made by roasting and grinding coffee beans and creating an infusion. The word coffee entered English around 1600 via the Dutch ‘koffie’, which comes from the Turkish ‘kahveh', from the Arabic ‘qahwah’. Last week we looked at the word espresso and today’s word is cappuccino. A cappuccino is made by topping an espresso with hot frothed milk. In Italian, the word cappuccino is the diminutive of ‘cappuccio’ meaning ‘hood’ (from the Latin ‘caputium’ – where we also get the word ‘cap&rsqu...
Our Word for Wednesday theme for January is colours. The word colour entered English via Old French and comes from the Latin ‘color’, from the Old Latin ‘colos’ meaning ‘a covering’, from the PIE root ‘kel-’ meaning ‘to conceal’. The word has been used in reference to skin colour since the early-thirteenth century and in reference to pigments and dye since the fourteenth century. The spelling colour became the common English spelling from the fourteenth century, but a classical correction made color an alternative from the fifteenth century. Color&nbs...
Our Word for Wednesday theme for November is vegetables. A vegetable is a plant or part of a plant that is used for food. The word dates to the mid-fifteenth century when it meant 'non-animal life’ and was used to describe any type of plant. It has been used in reference to plants specifically grown for food since 1767. So far we’ve looked at the words cabbage and potato. This week we’ve chosen two words that are used to refer to the same vegetable—courgette and zucchini. Both words describe a dark green cucumber-shaped squash that is typically eaten when small. The same vegetable left to mature is often called a marrow. Cour...
Our Word for Wednesday theme for September is stationery. Stationery comes from the Latin ‘stationarius’ which means ‘tradesman who sells from a station or shop’. The word was first used to describe ‘the articles sold by a stationer’ in 1727. Last week we looked at the word pencil, and today's stationery-themed word is pen. A pen is writing implement with a point from which ink flows, Although you might expect pen to have the same word root as pencil, it actually comes from the Old French ‘pene’ meaning ‘quill pen’ or ‘feather’, which in turn comes from the L...
Friday is National Cappuccino Day. Every year, on November 8th, people join to celebrate the creamy drink they love so much. After all, what’s better on a cold November morning that a hot cup of coffee to help you warm up? A cappuccino is equal parts of espresso and hot milk. Sometimes the drink might be topped with cinnamon, nutmeg, chocolate, or whipped cream. Although versions of coffee and milk have been enjoyed since the 1700s, the cappuccino as we know it became widespread after the second world war as espresso machines became more common. The drink – first called 'Kapuziner' – comes from Viennese coffee houses where it was sold alongsid...
Not to be confused with National Pi Day (which falls on March 14th), January 23rd marks National Pie Day, which has been an annual celebration of pies since the 1970s. The celebration was started in Boulder, Colorado, by nuclear engineer, brewer, and teacher Charlie Papazian who decided his birthday would be called National Pie Day. A pie is a dish baked in a pastry-lined pan often with a pastry top. Common pie fillings include meat and vegetables in a savoury sauce or fruit. You may also have heard Americans refer to pizza as pie ñ this is because pizza is the Italian word for pie. Click here to see the full Spellzone dictionary definition of the word and here for the Spellzone...
There is much news coverage about the recent 'fracas' at the BBC between a certain presenter and a producer. According to Dictionary.com The word fracas originates from the French fracas "crash, sudden noise; tumult, bustle, fuss" (15c.) and the Italian fracasso "uproar, crash." It was used in English from 1727 to describe a noisy, disorderly disturbance or fight; riotous brawl. The use of this word in the BBC statement suggests that the more than words were used during the encounter and time will tell. Whatever the outcome, the fact that that this word has been promoted to celebrity status is wonderful and we look forward to it being used more often by comm...
The word 'Embarrassment' appears in a list of 50 common words that Britons struggle to spell in a study commissioned by the TV channel Nick Jr UK to celebrate the launch of the children’s literacy show 'Wallykazam!' Apparently more than half of British adults struggle to spell common words and 20% of the 2,000 questioned admitted to using Google to check correct spellings. 'Embarrassment' originates from the 1670's French 'embarrasser' (to block) and Italian 'imbarrazzo' (to bar). The use of the word to make someone feel awkward started in the 1820's. To help save you from future embarrassing spelling moments, here are the 50 wor...
At this time of year, here in England, you can find a ‘grotto’ almost anywhere. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Christmas Grottos – they are rooms (or sometimes entire floors) in places like department stores, shopping centres, or Christmas fêtes, where an actor dressed as Father Christmas gives out small gifts to children. The Online Etymology Dictionary defines the word ‘grotto’ as ‘from Italian grotta, ultimately from Latin crypta “vault, cavern,” from Greek krypte “hidden place”’. I don’t know about you but that description reminds me more of ‘Open Sesame!’ than it does ‘Merry Christ...
Bless you! In English, we say ‘Bless You!’ after someone sneezes. It seems like a nice thought to bless someone with good health when they are coming down with something, doesn’t it? Indeed, the response to sneezing in other languages often translates to ‘Health’, such as ‘Gesundheit!’ in German, or ‘Salute!’ in Italian. One suggested origin of the phrase ‘Bless You!’, though, comes from an old belief that the soul could be ejected from someone’s body when they sneezed, leaving the body unprotected from the devil and other evil spirits. Another theory suggests that sneezing may have been thought of as the body’...
Coffee is a morning ritual for many, a source of comfort for others, and for most an invaluable tool to get us through a long day at the office. However you look at it, the familiar inky beverage has become one of the world’s favourite drinks. It’s a Word for Wednesday that many of us will use on a daily basis (I know I do!) but where does it come from and why is it so remarkably similar almost in every language? Despite preconceptions we might have of coffee (think Italian ‘espresso’, or a big American ‘cup of Joe’) coffee, like alcohol comes from the Arabic tradition. The best coffee is considered to come from the Arabica bean, native to the Yemen ...
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