Word.com

May TOP TWENTY

One of the world's top news events in May brought the word cyclone to the number three spot this month. Several other news stories involved words that reflected spikes of interest through the course of the month, but none cracked the top twenty.

Happy Birthday: 1692

What became known as the Salem Witch Trials began when Bridget Bishop was indicted, tried, and sentenced to death on June 2, 1692. In all, more than a dozen people accused of witchcraft were either hanged or died in prison before year's end. That year of witchcraft also saw the first print appearance of 47 words, of which only a few may have appeared during the hysteria or trials.

Interested in seeing all 47 words whose first known appearance in print is 1692? Choose the Collegiate as your Reference, click on the pull-down menu, and then select Date. Type in 1692 and click on Search.

Notable and Quotable: William Butler Yeats

Born June 13, 1865, William Butler Yeats was a Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet and dramatist. Renowned for his spiritualism and his strong nationalism, this leading figure in 20th century literature is quoted at more than 100 entries in the Unabridged to illustrate word senses, of which we've selected a colorful dozen.

Interested in finding instances of another author in the dictionary? It's easy. Choose the Unabridged as your reference and click on Advanced Search. Type in the last name in the Author field and click Search.

New Word Watch

Merriam-Webster editors are giving the following words serious consideration for entry in a Merriam-Webster dictionary:

*  carbon footprint noun : a measure of the environmental impact of an activity or process

*  ciabatta noun [Italian ciabatta slipper] : an Italian white bread

*  mixed martial arts noun : a combat sport that permits fighting techniques derived from various martial arts disciplines

Do you have a suggestion for a word we should be watching for? E-mail us at comments@word.com, and we'll tell you what we have on that word so far.

Just Foolin' Around

Once again, events in Myanmar (formerly Burma) helped move the term junta high onto the list of most-looked-up words for a few days last month. In October 2007, we reviewed the history of junta, the term applied to that nation's military rulers. This month, we fooled around a bit with the history of junta and found a wealth of words.

From the Mail Server

Over the past month, our editors answered a question from a writer on the front line of the editing wars, from someone uncertain as to how shoo-in developed that counterintuitive meaning, and from an inquisitive but inclusive sort who wants to make sure we and you are all on the same page.

Words in the News

The cyclone in Myanmar brought that word into the news cycle (and to a #3 spot on the May Top Twenty). Siroccos, hurricanes, and sometimes tornadoes all can be considered cyclones. What all cyclones have in common is this: a system of winds rotating clockwise in the southern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere. What can we add to the story?

Language Links

With school out, we're sure the college-bound are taking advantage of summer to brush up on their vocabulary. Interested in getting a head start on the rest of the class? Play around with these sites from Michigan State University for a review of classical prefixes, roots, and suffixes.