Etymology
SCARILY METICULOUS
 The term meticulous can be traced back to a mid-sixteenth-century collection of poetry. It was derived from the Latin word meticulosus, which originally meant "frightful" or "timid". This association…
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Latest Etymology
EN POINTE ON POINT
 Since the mid-aughts, the phrase on point has been a slang term meaning "perfect", essentially a synonym of on fleek. This definition…
RED TO BLACK FRIDAY?
 Many websites claim that the phrase Black Friday, referring to the shopping bonanza after Thanksgiving, is so named because…
WOMAN OF THE FAIRY MOUND
 The term banshee made its debut in the English language in a 1771 publication on Scotland, originally spelled benshi.…
HOUR WATCHER
 The term horoscope is intriguing as it originates from a time before the Norman Conquest. It can be traced…
AN EQUESTRIAN HOBBY
 When the word hobby was first borrowed into English around the turn of the fifteenth century, it meant "small horse"! This…
SENT ON A MISSION
 When the noun mission was borrowed into the English language in a 1513 theological text, it referred exclusively to…
PURSUED WRETCHES
 The term wretch was once a commonly used insult, appearing much more frequently in the past than it does…
GIVING OUT EDITS
 The term edit as a noun meaning "correction" is relatively new, dating back only about fifty years! It originated…