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Word for Wednesday: Tomato

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 vegetables cabbage, potato, and courgette. Today’s word is tomato. The first thing to note about the tomato is that it’s not technically a vegetable—it’s a fruit. As we explained at the start of this post a vegetable is a plant or part of a plant used for food. A fruit is...

Word for Wednesday: Potato

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. Last week we looked at the word cabbage and this week’s word is potato. A potato is a root vegetable native to South America with starchy edible tubers and poisonous vines. It is widely cultivated as a garden vegetable. The word entered English in the 1560s and was used to describe the vegetable we call sweet potato today...

Word for Wednesday: Banana

Our Word for Wednesday theme for July is fruit. The word fruit dates back to the late-twelfth century when it was used to mean ‘any vegetable product useful to humans or animals’. It entered English via Old French and comes from the Latin ‘fructus’ meaning ‘an enjoyment, delight, or satisfaction’ as well as ‘proceeds, produce, fruit, and crops’. The word took on its modern meaning in the early thirteenth century. Our first fruit-themed word is banana. A banana is a long curved fruit which grows in clusters. It is green when growing and turns yellow as it ripens. The fruit is known for its soft sweet flesh. Ba...

Word for Wednesday: Guitar

For the month of May, we have chosen musical instruments as the theme for our Word for Wednesday posts. The word music entered English in the thirteenth century as ‘musike’ via the Old French ‘musique’ and the Latin ‘musica’ meaning ‘music or poetry’. ‘Musica’ is from the Greek ‘mousikē’ which means ‘art of the muses’. Last week we looked at the word piano and today we will be looking at the word guitar. A guitar is a stringed instrument with curved sides and a fretted fingerboard. It usually has six or twelve strings which are plucked or strummed (...

Commonly Confused Words: Hoard vs. Horde

What does each word mean? A hoard is a secret store of valuables or money. As a verb, the word refers to the act of gathering or saving supplies for future use. Click here for the full Spellzone dictionary definition of the word. Here is hoard used in some example sentences: While cleaning out his late mother’s house, he found a hoard of old coins. Some animals hoard food for the winter. Click here to find the Spellzone study lists related to the word hoard. The word horde refers to a large group of moving people like a crowd or a nomadic community. Click here for the full Spellzone dictionary definition of the word. Here is horde used in an example sent...

Word for Wednesday: Hazard

When I began this week’s post, I felt sure ‘hazard’ would come from scientific origins – perhaps because I most associate the word with the yellow stickers that were affixed to dangerous equipment and chemicals in my school’s science labs. ‘Hazard’ was actually the name of a chance game played with dice and the word dates back to the fourteenth century. It comes from the French ‘hasard’ or ‘hasart’ which means ‘game of chance played with dice’ or ‘a throw of six in dice’. Though we are uncertain of the origins of this French game, one theory is that its name comes from the Spanish ‘hazar’...

Word for Wednesday: All Things Spice

My home county, the green and historic county of Yorkshire seems to have an inexhaustible repertoire of wonderful phrases, idioms words and expressions. If the dialect weren't tricky enough to comprehend, (in certain parts of Yorkshire the intricacies of their vocabulary might warrant a separate language!) the accents across Yorkshire vary incredibly. My mother grew up in West Yorkshire, where some of the most wonderfully exaggerated idiolects can be discovered and so my sister and I have visited our family there throughout our childhoods. I remember one day browsing the comic book shelves of a newsagents with my Mum, the kindly shop-owner wanted to advise me on which comic book...

Quixotic

Following our post about words from Harry Potter, we will spend the next few weeks taking a look at words that originate in Literature. These words are often taken from the names of characters and are used to describe people with similar traits. First up: Quixotic. The word quixotic is an adjective used to describe someone (or something) so idealistic that their aspirations are unrealistic and impractical. It originates from the Spanish novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Fully titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, the book was published in two volumes – the first in 1605, and the second in 1615. It is regarded as the most influential work from the Spanish G...

Borrowing from the Americas

Today we’re going to zoom out from specifically looking at the United States of America to taking a look at some English language words that have been borrowed from the indigenous languages of the Americas as a whole, from Alaska and Greenland to the southernmost tip of South America. Many of these words describe plants or animals that are from the Americas, whilst others may describe aspects or objects from Native American or First Nations day-to-day life (such as wigwams and igloos). In this post, though, we hope to look at some words whose origins might surprise you! Anorak When you think of British items of clothing, you probably think of wellies and anoraks long before you th...