It’s easy to tell when winter is coming in the parts of the world that feel the full force of the four seasons. The leaves have all come and gone from the trees, the air regularly has a distinct bite to it, and people don’t leave the house without their winter caps (and the mountains put on their winter snow caps, too). In the Northern …
Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Columbus Day are observed on the same day each year (the second Monday in October), but they aren’t simply different names for the same holiday. They’re two separate observances with different origins. Recently, the observance of Columbus Day has increasingly been replaced with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, including on the official calendars of many state governments, schools, businesses, and other organizations. There …
Language is a living thing, and so is Dictionary.com. Our dictionary will always be a work in progress—there’s no day in the future when we’ll mark it “complete” after adding the last word. This never-ending work is the job of our lexicographers, the (amazingly talented) people who write and edit the dictionary. They do more than just add and define words. They also add new …
English has so many words: Big words. Small words. Words with silent letters. And whatever the heck is going on with squeamish. With so many words to choose from, it can be easy to get a little confused from time to time. In fact, there are a lot of words people use every day that they actually get wrong without even knowing it. Right now, …
You’ve probably heard of public servants carrying out great acts of patriotism. You’ve probably also heard of concerns of a rising wave of nationalism around the world. Yes, both words involve some form of pride in one’s country, but there is an incredibly important distinction to be made between the two. Historically, both patriotism and nationalism were used roughly in the same way. But they …
Lose and loss are used in all the same contexts, but they are different parts of speech: one is a verb, and one is a noun. In this article, we’ll explain the differences between lose and loss, show how each one is typically used, and provide examples of how they often appear in sentences. The word lose is always used as a verb. Lose is …
If you feel like until has just too many letters or syllables, good news: you’ve got options. But should you use ’til or till? And what’s the difference, anyway? By the end of this article, you’ll know the differences between until, till, and ’til, including in terms of origin, level of formality, and use. The word ’til is a shortening of until that, like many …
The words jail and prison are sometimes used interchangeably, but they can imply different things. Commonly held distinctions relate to the size of the facility and how long someone is being held there. In this article, we’ll lay out the differences between casual and official use of these words, explain what they often mean in practical terms, and discuss and define similar terms, including penitentiary, …
In medical care, there are few things more important than cleanliness. There are several different terms used in the context of keeping things germ-free, and the two most common are aseptic and sterile. In many cases, they mean just about the same thing, but each one is often applied to specific situations. Scrub in, mask up, and join us as we examine the differences between …
Good news—choose and chose are pretty easy to keep separate. Unlike the distinction between loose and lose, which are two completely different words, choose and chose are two different forms of the same verb (whose present tense form means “to select”). In this article, you’ll learn when to use choose, chose, and other forms like choosing and chosen. You’ll also learn why “choosed” is not used …
Let’s be honest: desert vs. dessert is a spelling issue, not a definition issue. It’s easy to tell the difference between the Sahara and a chocolate cake (even a dry chocolate cake). But when should you use one S and when should you use two? That extra S could be the difference between mounds of sand and mounds of ice cream—and that’s an important difference! …
So, about that season formerly-known-as lent … Originally, spring was known as lent, or the lenten season, which came from the Old English lengten, which means “to make longer or greater in length.” It is no surprise that the season was originally named after the fact that the days were getting longer. After all, back then natural sunlight and candlelight would have been the only light …