“Every word was coined by a resourceful individual or borrowed as a result of language contact in a certain place at a certain time,” writes Anatoly Liberman in his new book, “Word Origins and How We ...

Science historian Howard Markel discusses the origins of the word moon and some of the lore surrounding it, including a 1638 book by the English bishop Francis Godwin entitled The Man in the Moone, ...

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. Those who happen to be mused sufficiently in the art and science of etymology, the study of the origins and histories of words; those, in other words, ...

For more than 150 years ago, the assumption that language is a singular event has hampered progress in explaining its evolution. Another obstacle was the failure to recognize that certain social ...

Science Diction is a bite-sized podcast about words—and the science stories behind them. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and sign up for our newsletter. Editor’s Note, March 13, 2019: Since ...

Science Diction is a bite-sized podcast about words—and the science stories behind them. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and sign up for our newsletter. Note: This piece has been updated.

Claim: The word handicap comes from 'cap in hand' and refers to the physically disabled's need to subsist as beggars. In 1504, after a brutal war in England, King Henry VII had an idea. King Henry ...