“Every word was coined by a resourceful individual or borrowed as a result of language contact in a certain place at a certain time,” writes Anatoly Liberman in his new book, “Word Origins and How We ...

Knowing the origin of words is of vital importance for a good speller. Several internationally acclaimed spelling lists have their words divided into sections on the basis of the language of origin.

We often hear fascinating stories about how things originated: the universe, the wheel, even pizza. But when it comes to the ...

Around 400 B.C., Hippocrates is said to have named masses of cancerous cells karkinos — Greek for crab. Science and medical historian Howard Markel discusses a few hypotheses on why Hippocrates named ...

In the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, fictional Greek-American small business owner Gus Portokalos repeatedly issues a bold linguistic challenge: “Give me a word—any word—and I’ll show you how the ...

Archive photo shows a sculpture of the ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite on display at the Haus der Kunst in Munich. Photo: DPA German speakers probably know more Greek than they think. Here's a run ...