Hey everyone! This is Steven with another blog entry.

Recently, I have become fascinated with the history of words and their original meaning, otherwise known as 'Etymology' (pronounced EH-TEE-MO-LO-GEE). They sometimes appear in printed dictionaries but less often than online versions. Here you can learn more about a particular word and its original meaning. It can certainly aid your vocabulary studies, especially advanced learners who become more curious!

For example: one of my favourite words is 'Tintinnabulation' (pronounced TIN-TIN-A-BYU-LAY-SHUN'). It is defined as "the ringing or sounding of bells". It derives, or comes from, the Latin word for 'bell' which is 'tintinnabulum' - this, in turn, comes from the verb 'tintinnare' which means "to ring, to jingle". This is also where the word 'tinkle' derives its origin.

Furthermore, it is interesting that the original latin word is an imitation (a copy) of the bell sound or noise; much like when you can hear a fire making 'snap', 'crackle', or 'pop' sounds. We call these words examples of 'onomatopoeia' (pronounced ON-NO-MAT-O-PEE-A).

Even though there is a rich history behind this word, as Latin words are from the age of the Roman Empire, it is still only trying to simply imitate a sound. Despite two-thousand years of history to seperate us from its first mention, some things may never change!

Thanks very much for your time, I hope you learned something interesting!

Steven