|
|
June 2010Word History of the Month: moratoriumOne of the biggest news stories in years – BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – has produced very few words on the Top Twenty. Plume soared high for a day or so. Then, as calls to suspend deep-sea oil drilling began to be heard, moratorium rose (with a bullet) to #24 for the month. Moratorium itself dates back only to 1875. Back then, it referred to a legally authorized period of delay in the repayment of a debt. It then came to name a waiting period set by an authority. Most recently, in the mid-20th century, it developed the sense used in the news today: suspension of an activity. Moratorium has an ancestor in morari, Latin for to delay; that same root also gave English the word demur. Incidentally, more than one moratorium can be called either moratoria or moratoriums. |