November 2005

Hot New Words of 1621

The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated by Pilgrims and Native Americans in 1621.  The month we serve up a first helping of words from that notable year.

And for a complete list of the 87 words dating to 1621, go to the Collegiate Dictionary, click on Advanced Search and type 1621 in the Date field.

While we moderns are grateful for all of the terms whose first print appearance dates to 1621, we suspect some of those terms have reflected the more positive aspects of the year than others.

allspice
carefree
easy chair
exultancy
literati
moralist
polymath
referee
steward, verb
unerring

disrespect, noun
errancy
hebetude
inclement
plagiarism
self-pity
self-serving
squalor
timeserving
virulence