Word-Origin Wednesday

"Ghost" is a pretty old word. "Ghoul," as an English word, not so much.

The names of "October" and a few other months make a lot more sense if we look at Latin and the Roman calendar.

The everyday meaning of "sympathy" has shifted over the years, but it's always had some connection to its Latin and Greek roots.

Before it entered everyday English, "hysterical" was medical Latin.

Do you say "autumn" or "fall" to describe the season between summer and winter? Get the lowdown on the history of both words.

"Dead" and "duck" go way back, but the term "dead duck" is only a couple of centuries old.

The often miswritten and mispronounced "landlubber" goes back a few centuries.

"Nice" has had at least a dozen definitions over the last few centuries.

The Modern English "peruse" came from the Middle English "peruse" . . . or maybe it came from French.

With Labor Day approaching, let's look at "factory" and "manufacturing." They were both borrowed from Latin.