The terms motherland and fatherland both refer to one’s native country, one’s country of origin, or the home of one’s ancestors. So, what’s the difference between motherland and others fatherland? What are the origins of motherland and fatherland? Whether a particular group uses (their language’s equivalent of, if they have one) motherland or fatherland is a matter of culture, tradition, or, in some instances, personal preference. In …
On Independence Day (July 4th), we ooh and ahh at the fireworks bursting in air, but did you know that the different types of fireworks effects have their own names? What’s a peony firework? The peony is one of the most common kinds of aerial pyrotechnic effects. It is named for a variety of plants with large, showy flowers. This firework display has a flower-like explosion …
You may have noticed a nifty new tool scrolling across the top of the homepage of Dictionary.com. But, what makes it tick? What is the trending word ticker, and how does it work? Rather than reading out stock prices, our ticker pulls real-time data on daily word search trends in our dictionary. The percentage is a measurement of how many searches there are for a …
What’s the origin of nice? Nice, it turns out, began as a negative term derived from the Latin nescius, meaning “unaware, ignorant.” This sense of “ignorant” was carried over into English when the word was first borrowed (via French) in the early 1300s. And for almost a century, nice was used to characterize a “stupid, ignorant, or foolish” person. Starting in the late 1300s, nice began …
English has a rich, extensive vocabulary. Problem is, sometimes those words run into each other, resulting in a tangled set of homophones, words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings. The word set we’re examining today can send writers into a spiral of uncertainty when it comes to word choice, particularly in the context of one expression: piqued my interest, peaked my interest, …
Three verbs that mean similar things: charge, convict, and sentence. They appear in the news constantly, but do you know what each term actually describes? What does it mean to be charged with a crime? Let’s begin with charge. When a person is charged with a crime, a formal allegation (a statement not yet proven) of an offense is made. We typically refer to charges in the …
March 14 marks one of the geekiest days on the calendar. But, some people might confuse it for one of the tastiest. It’s Pi Day. Not pie, but pi (II, π), the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet. In mathematics, the character is used to represent a constant—the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter—which is approximately 3.14159+. While the infinitely long …
Paunchy, winsome, defiance, thaumaturgical. What could this unusual assortment of words possibly have in common? Dads, apparently. Our Data Scientists examined what users looked up on Dictionary.com on Mother’s Day in 2018. Well, Daddy-o, they’ve worked their magic again. Here are the search terms that trended in each state for Father’s Day, 2018. And, compared to our moms, the words tell a very different tale. (A …
Is it possible to see a taste? Or taste a word? The answer is yes, sort of. What is synesthesia? An involuntary neurological condition called synesthesia, which is also spelled synaesthesia, describes a version of this experience.Synesthesia is “a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization of a certain …
Which word is it, anyway? Anyway is a common adverb used to mean “in any case,” while any way is an adjective-noun phrase that means “whichever path” or “in any manner.” Anyways is the informal form of anyway. While less common in formal writing, anyways abounds in everyday speech or dialogue. It often signals a transition. Anyway Anyway, used as an adverb, suggests a disregard …
When something is imminent, that means it’s “impending.” Immanent isn’t a typo; it means “inherent.” And, e minent means “distinguished.” Now that that is cleared up … how do you use each of these in a sentence? How to use imminent in a sentence Imminent means “likely to occur at any moment or impending.” It refers to something that’s approaching, about to happen, anticipated, or threatening …
English is a trickster of a language, evidenced by the fact that two words that appear to be antonyms can actually mean the exact same thing. However, every once in a while we come across a pair of words that it really would be better to not confuse. A fine example of this is flammable and inflammable. Why are these two words so confusing? Well, flammable and …
