It’s a very satisfying thing to learn that there’s a word for an experience you didn’t know could be described by a word. Learning that, for example, clinomania is an “excessive desire to stay in bed” ...

How do words get their meanings? Why does the string of letters (and sounds) "d-o-g" mean "dog" and "c-a-t" mean "cat"? For the most part, meanings are conventions: A group of people (like speakers of ...

Word of the Day: Discombobulate reminds readers that English vocabulary is not only rich and precise but also capable of ...

Word of the day: Alacrity - Studies show strong vocabulary improves professional success by nearly 30%. “Alacrity” is one such powerful word. It means quick action with real enthusiasm. Not just speed ...

Word of the Day: Gargantuan - This word has a delightfully literary origin. It comes from Gargantua, the giant king in François Rabelais' 16th-century satirical novel Gargantua and Pantagruel (1534).

Meaning associations between words have always fascinated people. Aristotle was among the first to study the connection between metaphorical language and riddles, coining the term metaphor to refer to ...