About Words & Vocabulary
Vocabulary is constantly changing. New technologies create new terms, old words shift meaning, communities develop slang, and languages borrow from neighbors. Dictionaries record usage, but they do not freeze language in place.
Roots
A root carries a central part of a word's meaning.
Learn MorePrefixes and Suffixes
Affixes modify word meaning or grammatical role.
Learn MoreBorrowing
Languages borrow words through trade, migration, conquest, science, food, and popular culture.
Learn MoreNew Words
Communities invent words for new ideas.
Learn MoreSlang
Slang spreads rapidly through communities and generations.
Learn MoreMeaning Change
Word meanings can broaden, narrow, improve, worsen, or shift completely.
Learn MoreDictionaries
Modern dictionaries usually describe how people use words.
Learn MoreTranslation
Words rarely match perfectly across languages.
Learn MoreRoots
Words can combine roots with prefixes, suffixes, and other pieces.
Prefixes and Suffixes
Unhappy, happiness, replay, and player show how small pieces can build related words.
Borrowing
English contains large amounts of vocabulary from French, Latin, Greek, Norse, and many other sources.
New Words
Technology produces terms such as podcast, emoji, livestream, and smartphone.
Slang
Some slang disappears quickly, while other forms eventually become ordinary vocabulary.
Meaning Change
The history of a word can preserve surprising clues about earlier culture.
Dictionaries
Editors study books, speech, news, websites, and other evidence to identify meanings and examples.
Translation
A word may cover several meanings that require different translations depending on context.