DAILY / 01carnival
Celebration & daily life · Complete story
The feast before the fast
A word for celebration carries an older clue: removing meat.
THE WORD COLLECTION
Good stories leave a trail.
Follow English words back through time. Open a complete story, or start with a little clue to its origin.
DAILY / 01
WORD / 02quarantine
Harbors & time · A clue to the origin
The number beyond the harbor
A waiting ship leaves an old number inside a familiar word.
WORD / 03silhouette
Art & personal names · A clue to the origin
The surname inside the outline
A little portrait carries the name of a French finance minister.
WORD / 04clue
Myth & discovery · A clue to the origin
A thread through the dark
A detective’s familiar word began as a ball of thread.
WORD / 05muscle
Bodies & metaphor · A clue to the origin
The little mouse in your arm
A strong word carries the name of a very small animal.
WORD / 06candidate
Rome & public life · A clue to the origin
Dressed to be noticed
A candidate’s name once described a white garment.
WORD / 07disaster
Stars & old ideas · A clue to the origin
When people blamed the stars
A word for catastrophe preserves an old idea about the sky.
WORD / 08sandwich
Food & personal names · A clue to the origin
An earl inside your lunch
Two slices of bread carry a title—and a much-retold anecdote.
WORD / 09boycott
Society & personal names · A clue to the origin
When cooperation disappears
A land agent’s surname outlived a struggle over land.
WORD / 10robot
Theatre & technology · A clue to the origin
A robot’s first stage
A Czech play gave the world a name with labour inside it.
WORD / 11algorithm
Numbers & journeys · A clue to the origin
The thousand-year-old name on your screen
A mathematician’s name travels from manuscripts to modern procedures.
WORD / 12shampoo
Bodies & everyday life · A clue to the origin
The hands before the foam
A familiar bathroom word begins with the action of massage.
WORD / 13dollar
Places & exchange · A clue to the origin
Small change from a valley
A mining town leaves a fragment of its name in the world’s wallets.
WORD / 14serendipity
Letters & discovery · A clue to the origin
Finding what you were not seeking
Three fictional travellers help a letter-writer name a kind of discovery.
WORD / 15echo
Myth & sound · A clue to the origin
She can only answer after you
A myth gives a returning voice a human story.
WORD / 16panic
Wild places & myth · A clue to the origin
Who frightened the first shepherd?
An unseen noise carries the name of a woodland god.
WORD / 17avatar
Belief & digital worlds · A clue to the origin
Your penguin makes an entrance
A word for descent finds a new life on a screen.
WORD / 18orange
Fruit & colour · A clue to the origin
The colour borrowed a fruit
Put an orange beside a piece of cloth and watch a name change jobs.
WORD / 19denim
Clothes & place-names · A clue to the origin
A French city in your trouser leg
A textile name travels from a town into everyday clothes.
WORD / 20leotard
Circus & personal names · A clue to the origin
The name that stayed in the air
A flying acrobat leaves a surname in the wardrobe.
WORD / 21diesel
Engines & personal names · A clue to the origin
A surname at the fuel pump
An engine carries its inventor’s name into several modern meanings.
WORD / 22dunce
Learning & labels · A clue to the origin
The thinker inside an insult
A scholar’s name takes a surprising turn in a later argument.
WORD / 23ostracize
Cities & choices · A clue to the origin
The broken pot that could send you away
An Athenian vote leaves a word for exclusion.
No story found. Try another clue.