Some holiday words have more than one meaning, like "trim" the tree. And some meanings have more than one word, like "gift" ...

Our modern English word "Noel" is derived from the Middle English word nowel and means "a shout of joy or Christmas song." ...

Even if you’re not a full-blown grammar nerd, you’ll find the origins of these words that changed meaning over time completely fascinating The English language is alive—and like any living thing, it ...

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives. From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered ...

Below are 12 Shakespearean words that quietly changed their meaning over the last few centuries. In Shakespeare's time, ...

Thanks to the evolution of language, technology, and lots of hyperbole, these words used to convey a lot more merit, emotion, or simply seriousness than they do nowadays. Ah, “genius.” Once reserved ...

Word meanings can shift radically, just like pronunciation. Called semantic change, a shift in a word's meaning occurs when frequent misuse becomes standard, or when metaphoric use becomes literal.

Children learn language effortlessly and completely voluntarily. They learn new words miraculously fast. A teenager masters about 60,000 words of their mother tongue by the time they finish high ...

Find the answer for Quaint word meaning frequently from the people who brought you the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

"Slop," which refers to creepy, zany and demonstrably fake content, has landed the title of Merriam-Webster's 2025 word of ...

Decades after I began writing about language, there are still words I avoid out of fear I’ll use them wrong. And worse: Some of these are terms I’ve learned, written about, then promptly forgotten.

Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution states that “Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath...” Here, and in more than a dozen other places in Article ...