What’s in a name? Well, it depends on the name. There are thousands of common and popular names in English. Most have their own unique meanings, but a few have more meanings than others. That’s because they happen to overlap with common English words that are found in the dictionary. Take the name Trace, for example, which is commonly used as a boy’s name and …
How many words are in the English language? It would seem like a simple question, but the answer is anything but. New words are entering the language all the time. In 2019, no one could have predicted what has become a defining word of 2020: COVID-19. At the same time, existing words evolve. What’s the first thing that comes to mind with tweet? A bird or social …
When a new year rolls around, many people mark the occasion by making resolutions for all the things they’d like to accomplish in the 365 days ahead. Unfortunately, that may not be the best approach. About 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail, according to U.S. News & World Report, and that’s likely because the “new year, new me” philosophy is really difficult to master. Want …
Meteors, meteorites, meteoroids, asteroids, comets … that’s a lot of terms (and space objects) flying around! Not to mention shooting stars and meteor showers. Are they all the same thing? Even though some of them may appear pretty similar to us, the answer is no, they’re not the same thing—especially not to the scientists who study them and who use different terms for specific reasons (more …
As anyone who is familiar with Christian holidays knows, winter is jam-packed with important observances. Christmas is well known, but there are many occasions with great religious significance leading up to spring that are less familiar to many: Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, and Lent. In the simplest sense, all of these days are lead-ins to the central Christian festival of Easter. Some are …
by Rory Gory No matter your sexual orientation or gender identity, all people have something in common. There are many things in life that we can choose or change, such as how we decide to express ourselves, the relationships we commit to, or the dreams we pursue. And then there are things in life that happen to us whether or not we want them to: …
Dictionary Week was planned as a celebration of Dictionary.com’s 28th birthday—a word party in honor of all the ways words touch our lives. We loved celebrating with you so much that we’ve rounded up some of our favorite moments and highlights. Cheers! We kicked the week off with Wordplay Day by asking you to share some of your favorite puns—some of which even made it …
Many people around the world agree that doughnuts—those small sweetened or unsweetened pieces of dough fried in deep fat—are delicious. What is less agreed on (at least in the United States) is the spelling: is it doughnut or donut? Technically, it can be both. Dictionaries and popular style guides like the AP Stylebook list doughnut as the preferred spelling. However, donut is a common variation …
Every day, Americans from all around the country use Dictionary.com to look up words. One of the things that the lookup data shows is which words were looked up most by residents of each of the 50 states (and Washington, D.C.). As you might expect, many of these most-looked-up words are the same from place to place. (Spelling accommodate is hard no matter where you …
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … Happy New Year! As we all know, the first day of the new calendar year is when we pop the champagne, blow up fireworks, and make a resolution that we will inevitably never actually accomplish. But why do we do all of these things? You might be surprised to learn that there are reasons behind …
Every year since 1986, the United States has observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the third Monday in January. The national holiday honors a man who not only was an inspirational civil rights activist during the 1960s, but also one of the greatest orators of our time. King wrote five books during his lifetime, and at one point was estimated to deliver up to …
As May nears its final weeks, Gemini season rolls in. Lucky people born between May 21–June 20 can call themselves Geminis. It’s the sign after Taurus and before Cancer in the Zodiac calendar. An air sign ruled by Mercury, Gemini is the third sign of the Zodiac. Represented by twins, Geminis tend to have a dual nature. They can be unpredictable, and their personalities are …