Across Europe, the smallest rain has many names — drizzle, bruine, llovizna, Niesel. All speak of drops that hover before they fall. greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-word...

‘Ember’ comes from Old English ‘ǣmyrge’ and Old Norse ‘eimyrja’—a live coal. Its cousins across Europe still glow: ‘braise’, ‘brasa’, ‘glød’. The word has carried warmth for over a thousand years. greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-word...

“Book collecting is an obsession… not a hobby. Those who do it must do it.” – Jeanette Winterson This is my neatly shelved version. Sometimes the ‘to read’ pile reaches the ceiling and looks like it might topple in the night. Still worth it. #BookCollector #ReadersOfX #BookQuote #JeanetteWinterson

At Vile, on Denmark’s Limfjord, the word for dusk is 'tusmørke', ‘between dark’. English has kept its own word for over a thousand years. Read more: greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-words-words-words/dusk

The hearth once meant both fireplace and family. From Old English ‘heorð’ to Latin ‘focus’ and Greek ‘Hestia’. More at greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-words-words-words/hearth #etymology #hearth

Old name, bitter fruit. This word card traces the roots of sloe — from Indo-European colour words to hedgerow gin and frost-bitten harvests. 🔗 bit.ly/GEEwords

“There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favourite book.” – Marcel Proust The best kind of nostalgia is bound in pages. 📚 #MarcelProust #BookQuote #ReadersOfX #LiteraryQuotes #ChildhoodReads #GreatExpectationsEducation

I thought lantern was Germanic — but it comes from Greek lampter ‘torch’ via Latin and French. As October nights draw in, it recalls scenes before electricity, lanterns carried into the dark. Read more: bit.ly/GEEwords

When I first started looking into lantern, I expected it to be Germanic. But its story goes back to Greek lampter ‘torch’, then Latin lanterna and French lanterne before reaching English. October seems the right time for it — nights drawing in, the lantern taken out to feed cattle, the glow in novel

The rose hip has two roots. ‘Rose’ came from Latin and Greek, ‘hip’ is Old English. A borrowed flower + a native fruit, tied together in autumn hedgerows. More at bit.ly/GEEwords

Rose hips glow red in autumn hedges, gathered for teas, charms, and wartime syrup. The word itself holds two stories: ‘rose’ travelled west from Greek and Latin, while ‘hip’ is a Germanic survival from Old English hēope. Other languages echo the same pattern, with hedge-pods and briar-berries alongs

Old English ‘mist’ has barely changed in a thousand years. It shares a root with ‘mistletoe’—once ‘misteltān’, the ‘dung twig’. From meigh- ‘to sprinkle’. bit.ly/GEEwords greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-word...

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” – Harper Lee A quiet corner, a burst of yellow, and a reminder of how vital stories are. #HarperLee #BookQuote #ReadersOfX #ToKillAMockingbird #GreatExpectationsEducation #QuoteOfTheDay

October still means ‘eight’. A name from Rome, reshaped by Anglo-Saxon moons and Norse winters. From ‘Winterfylleth’ to ‘Gormánuðr’, October carries stories of calendars and seasons. bit.ly/GEEwords #October #Etymology #WordOrigins #LanguageHistory

Crab apples grow along field margins, woodland paths, and old hedgerows. The name doesn’t come from claws, but likely from old Germanic words meaning ‘crooked’ or ‘gnarled’. 👉 bit.ly/GEEwords #crabapple #etymology #hedgerow #wildapple #greatexpectationseducation

The hawthorn berries are starting to colour in the hedgerows behind our allotment. But the name ‘hawthorn’ is rooted much further back—right to Old English hagaþorn, meaning ‘hedge-thorn’. It’s one of the oldest plant names still in use in English. In Middle English, the fruit itself became known a

‘Hawthorn’ is one of the oldest English tree names. Originally a ‘hedge-thorn’, it later gave its name to the fruit: a haw. Across Europe, names like meidoorn, biancospino and aubépine echo its thorns and blossom. More here: bit.ly/GEEwords #hawthorn #etymology #hedgerow #oldenglish #trees #autumnwo

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin A yellow chair, a sea view, and a good book — what more could you need? #GeorgeRRMartin #BookQuote #ReadersOfX #ReadMoreBooks #GreatExpectationsEducation #QuoteOfTheDay

‘Acorn’ didn’t always mean oak nut. It once meant any wild field fruit — reshaped by folk etymology, and narrowed over time. Across Europe: ‘gland’, ‘ghianda’, ‘bellota’, ‘baloot’, ‘eikel’. Even squirrels got in on the story. #etymology #acorn #linguistics #OldEnglish bit.ly/GEEwords

On a menu in Legoland Billund, I found mushrooms listed as ‘beech hats’. Across Europe, fungi are bristles, plums, toads’ chairs and more. bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #foodwords

I spotted Stillings Gaard on a street in Denmark, and it reminded me how far this word travels. Danish gård, English ‘yard’, and English ‘garden’ all come from an ancient root for ‘enclosure’. Even Kindergarten is part of the family. bit.ly/GEEwords

‘A room without books is like a body without a soul.’ – Marcus Tullius Cicero Even the brightest space feels empty without a shelf or two. #Cicero #BookQuote #BooksMatter #ReadersOfX #GreatExpectationsEducation #QuoteOfTheDay #BookishThoughts

‘Damson’ sounds hedgerow-born — but it once meant ‘plum of Damascus’. A clipped fruit with a long memory. #Etymology #Damson #WordHistory #SeptemberWords Translations + full story: bit.ly/GEEwords

A sunflower over a hedge in Otterlo this summer made me think of the word hedgerow. From Old English hecg + ræw, its story runs through Bronze Age fields, Saxon charters, and the Enclosure Acts. More here: bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #hedgerow #landscape

French has marron d’Inde, German Rosskastanie, Danish hestekastanje. Only English has ‘conker’, born in 1840s slang from ‘conquer’. bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #autumn #conker

A book is the best kind of company — whatever the day brings. ‘Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.’ – Lemony Snicket, Horseradish #LemonySnicket #Horseradish #BookLovers #ReadersOfInstagram #LiteraryQuotes #BeachReads #GreatExpectationsEducation #QuoteOfTheDay #ReadEverywhere

Spring blossom now, but conker season is coming. ‘Horse chestnut’ is a direct translation of Turkish ‘at kestanesi’, ‘the horse’s chestnut’, from when the nuts were fed to horses. bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #trees #wordhistory #conkers

‘Harvest’ was once the English word for autumn. From Old English ‘hærfest’ and PIE ‘kerp-’ ‘to pluck’, it lives on in German ‘Herbst’, Dutch ‘herfst’, Italian ‘raccolto’, Spanish ‘cosecha’, and Welsh ‘cynhaeaf’. More: bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #harvest #seasons

My garden’s full of brambles thanks to a bit of accidental rewilding. The word itself goes back to Old English ‘bremel’, a thornbush. German keeps it in ‘Brombeere’, French has ‘ronce’, Spanish ‘zarza’. More here: bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #bramble #blackberry

“Stories cannot demolish frontiers, but they can punch holes in our mental walls…” – Elif Shafrak #StoryPower #ElifShafrak #GlobalVoices #MentalWalls #EmpathyThroughStories #GreatExpectationsEducation #QuoteOfTheDay #SeaView #NatureAndWisdom #TedTalkQuotes

Picked my first blackberries already this August — earlier than I remember in the north west. The name looks simple, but across Europe the fruit is tied to brambles, bears, and mulberries. Full story: bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #blackberry #wordorigins

Here's to those recovering from the first-week-back-at-school ... #AnnaKarenina #Tolstoy #ClassicLiterature #ParentCarerLife #LiteraryQuotes #additionalneeds #SEN #parentcarer

Old English ‘hærfest’ (August–October) named the season and the crops. French gave us ‘autumn’, English coined ‘fall of the leaf’. Three names, one season. bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #autumn #harvest

September still means ‘seven’, a fossil from Rome’s ten-month year. In Old English it was the harvest or holy month, in Norse the autumn month. For me it’s also the start of a new year. 👉 bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #September #WordOrigins #Autumn

September still means ‘seven’, a fossil from Rome’s ten-month year. In Old English it was the harvest or holy month, in Norse the autumn month. For me it’s also the start of a new year. 👉 bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #September #WordOrigins #Autumn

My garden is full of elderflowers (mostly in part due to my lack-lustre gardening skills, so several elder trees have flourished). I’m not a fan of e’f’ cordial. I’ll probably leave them ‘til the autumn. Last year, I planned to make a jelly, but the birds beat me to it …

When I checked the etymology of a little French bakery (tastes a bit like a profiterole without the chocolate or cream) item, I didn’t expect to find a link to cabbages! #etymology #reading #dyslexia #linguistics #teaching #spld #literacy #spelling #vocabulary

We’ve been enjoying ‘Asterix and Obelix: The Big Fight’ on Netflix, so we took the boys to see some real menhirs … #etymology #reading #dyslexia #linguistics #teaching #spld #literacy #spelling #vocabulary

I attended a fairly old fashioned primary school, so the May half-term break was known as the ‘Whit’ holidays. To see ‘Pentecost’ translated into different languages and full versions of the cards: greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-lang...

These flowers smelled amazing - apparently it’s ‘Trachelospermum jasminoides’ (also known as ‘star jasmine’ or ‘false jasmine’) #dyslexiaspecialist #etymology #historicallinguistics

I think I’m a bit late with this one. I did start it whilst the buttercups were blooming, but I think they’ve now all been frazzled by the sun! Full translations here: greatexpectationseducation.uk/musings-lang...

I’ve been looking into the roots of the French word épicerie, the name of many shops in French villages — and it turns out it started with spices. Head to bit.ly/GEEwords for the full set of word cards.

‘Biscuit’ comes from Latin roots meaning ‘twice cooked’. Once a dry hard ship’s ration — now a source of national confusion between Brits and Americans. Head to bit.ly/GEEwords for the word in other languages and a full etymology.

From beach stones to Breton sweets: pebble has a weathered history. Its roots lie in Middle English — maybe even in the sound of clattering gravel. More on pebble and galet at [bit.ly/GEEwords] #etymology #pebble #galet #chocolatewords #structuredwordinquiry #howwordswork #greatexpectationseducatio

Canvas pitched and dye pots simmering — this tent stood at a Battle of Hastings reenactment. The word itself carries a long story of Latin stretchers, Germanic covers, and silk-spinning caterpillars. Read more: bit.ly/GEEwords #GEEwords #etymology

Soup’ began life as soaked bread. From Late Latin ‘suppa’ to French ‘soupe’, it reached English in the 1600s, replacing ‘pottage’. The one pictured was sampled at Village de Poul-Fetan in Brittany. More on its history here: bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #soup

‘Sage’ comes from Latin ‘salvia’ — a healing plant. In Welsh it’s ‘sbeubwen’, in Hebrew ‘marva’, and in Greek ‘faskómilo’. This Jerusalem sage was photographed in Auray, Brittany. A word with deep roots: [bit.ly/GEEwords]#language #sage #healing #education #vocabulary #latin #words

‘Sage’ comes from Latin ‘salvia’ — a healing plant. In Welsh it’s ‘sbeubwen’, in Hebrew ‘marva’, and in Greek ‘faskómilo’. This Jerusalem sage was photographed in Auray, Brittany. A word with deep roots: [bit.ly/GEEwords]#language #sage #healing #education #vocabulary #latin #words

Soup’ began life as soaked bread. From Late Latin ‘suppa’ to French ‘soupe’, it reached English in the 1600s, replacing ‘pottage’. The one pictured was sampled at Village de Poul-Fetan in Brittany. More on its history here: bit.ly/GEEwords #etymology #soup

Canvas pitched and dye pots simmering — this tent stood at a Battle of Hastings reenactment. The word itself carries a long story of Latin stretchers, Germanic covers, and silk-spinning caterpillars. Read more: bit.ly/GEEwords #GEEwords #etymology