We often hear fascinating stories about how things originated: the universe, the wheel, even pizza. But when it comes to the words we toss around every single day without a second thought, it’s wild ...

The term " gastronomy " comes from the ancient Greek gastêr (γαστήρ), meaning " stomach ," and nomos (νόμος), meaning " law " ...

Origin Uncertain: Unravelling the Mysteries of Etymology. By Anatoly Liberman. Oxford University Press; 344 pages; $29.99 and £22.99 MANY WORDS are puzzles themselves. “Conundrum” confounds scholars; ...

Know the origins of the names of your favorite fall foods. The fall harvest doesn't let word lovers go hungry: It yields a cornucopia of etymological roots as well. Feast on the bounty of these ...

A new book exploring the origins of common food terms — from bialy to lima bean to bibimbap — is a fascinating history of how we eat and cook. By Kim Severson Used judiciously, the snappy tidbits of ...

It can compliment, or dismiss. It sometimes conveys strong emotions, or no emotion at all. And that's "nice" -- a tidy, sturdy word that's remarkably adaptable. Hundreds of years ago, it meant someone ...

The study of word origins (that is, etymology) is every bit the serious academic discipline you might expect it to be — except when it's not. As it turns out, people have a propensity to make false ...

The Greeks built on Babylonian astronomy to make their observations of eclipses, and the word “ekleipsis” appears as early as the fifth century B.C. in Thucydides’s history of the Peloponnesian War, ...

Stay on top of what’s happening in the Bay Area with essential Bay Area news stories, sent to your inbox every weekday. The Bay Bay Area-raised host Ericka Cruz Guevarra brings you context and ...

Have you ever wondered where all the weird words in English come from? For example, when someone refers to the presence of small children as "hearing the pitter-patter of little feet" — where on earth ...