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Word Origins

A viking ship sailing across open water | Babbel

139 Old Norse Words That Invaded The English Language

Without the Vikings, English would be missing some pretty awesome words like berserk, ugly, muck, skull, knife, die and cake!

By
John-Erik Jordan
Group of Jellyfish

What Are Collective Nouns?

Have you ever wondered why fish swim in schools, stairs are measured in flights or worms come in cans?

By
James Lane
The Acropolis of Athens at sunset, with the Parthenon and other ancient Greek ruins atop a rocky hill, surrounded by lush greenery and set against a dramatic sky with golden clouds.

What Does ‘Cosmopolitan’ Mean?

By
Hannah Wehrle
Moon words and phrases represented by an astronaut riding on a lunar buggy.

7 Words And Expressions About The Moon From Around The World

By
Natali Lekka

What Is The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)?

By
Nuno Marques
History of English spelling represented by a grid of pink and blue cups with letters on each of them.

The Eccentric History Of English Spelling (And Why It’s So Maddeningly Difficult)

By
Nuno Marques
Two people looking at the night sky with a telescope.

Where Did The Planets Get Their Names?

By
Hannah Wehrle
hand holds a cappuccino and ponders its etymology

An Introduction To Etymology: Eight Great Word Origins

By
Cristina Gusano
girl perusing books at the library looking up english word origins

Where Do English Words Come From?

By
Steph Koyfman
Star Wars language represented by a closeup of Jabba the Hut.

Star Words: Language Trivia From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

By
John-Erik Jordan
International Women's Day represented by a woman with a shaved head and leather jacket standing on a highway overpass at night with streetlights behind her.

What’s The Meaning Of ‘Feminism’?

By
Claire Larkin
English words that are actually Greek represented by a photo of ruins in Greece

21 English Words That Are Actually Greek (And The Stories Behind Them)

By
Natali Lekka
Elizabethan language represented by a modern photo of the turrets at the front of Windsor Castle, in front of which is a large crowd of tourists slightly out of focus.

9 Elizabethan Words To Bring Back

By
Kyri Savva

111 English Words That Are Actually Spanish

By
John-Erik Jordan
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