Dave Wilton

Dave has a PhD in medieval English literature from the University of Toronto and has been publishing Wordorigins.org since 1997.

nobelium

In theory, the naming of new chemical elements should be rather straightforward: the scientists who first discover/synthesize the element suggest a name, which is officially approved by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). But the naming of element 102, nobelium, is twisted and fraught with controversy

pretendian

Pretendian is a word that has yet to make it into any major dictionary, and it refers to a person who falsely claims to be Native-American or to have Native-American ancestry. It’s etymology is rather obvious, a blend of pretend + Indian. Pretendians range from people who have been told

Canada

The name Canada comes from Huron-Iroquois kanata (kaná:taʔ), meaning town or settlement, entering English through French. The original town in question was the Iroquois village of Stadaconé, the site of the present-day Quebec City. French-Breton explorer Jacques Cartier reached Stadaconé in July 1534, taking the chief, Donnacona, and several

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jabroni (paid)

nitrogen

Nitrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 7 and the symbol N. It is the most common element in the earth’s atmosphere. The English name is borrowed from French, which formed it as a combination of nitre and ‑gène. The latter lexeme is from the Greek -γενής (-genes)

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nobelium (paid)

boss

The word boss has many different meanings with many different etymologies, but most of these senses of the word are uncommon or archaic. The dominant meaning of boss is that of a supervisor or person in charge. That sense comes from the Dutch baas, brought into English via the Dutch

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pretendian (paid)

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Canada (paid)

pill / the pill

A pill is a tablet or other such mass containing a drug intended to be swallowed. The pill is an oral contraceptive. The definite article underscores the revolutionary nature of reliable oral contraception. With the pill, women for the first time could exercise their reproductive autonomy, opening up opportunities in

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nitrogen (paid)

niobium / columbium

Niobium is a chemical element with atomic number 41 and the symbol Nb. It had been known previously as columbium, symbol Cb. Niobium is a light gray, crystalline transition metal with a hardness similar to titanium and a ductility similar to iron. It is used as a component of steel

Maritimes / Maritimer / Maritime Provinces / Atlantic Provinces

The adjective maritime is a mid sixteenth century borrowing from French, which in turn is from the Latin martimus, an adjective meaning related to the sea. But in Canada, the Maritimes, refers to the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, not to be confused with the

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boss (paid)

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tidal wave / tsunami

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pill / the pill (paid)

nihonium

Nihonium is a synthetic chemical element with atomic number 113 and the symbol Nh. The half-life of its longest-lived isotope is measured in seconds. It has no applications beyond pure research. The element was first reported to have been produced in 2003 at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR)

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niobium / columbium (paid)

April fool

No one knows for sure why April, and in particular the first of April, is associated with the playing of pranks on unsuspecting dupes, but the tradition seems to have evolved from the long association between love and springtime—the initial association was with those who have been made foolish

riding

When I moved to Canada in 2010, I soon discovered that legislative districts there are known as ridings. At first, I assumed the name came from the distance one could ride to get to the polls, but me being me, I had to look it up, and I discovered that

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Maritimes / Maritimer / Maritime Provinces / Atlantic Provinces (paid)

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tidal wave / tsunami (paid)

meltdown / melt / molten

In the public imagination, the noun meltdown is closely associated with nuclear reactor accidents. Given Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukashima, this association is quite understandable. But the word has an older use in metal smelting. And of course, it is also used metaphorically for an emotional breakdown. The history

Easter / Easter bunny / pasch / paschal

Easter is the name for the Christian celebration of Jesus’s resurrection. The name is an old one, going back to Old English. The root is Germanic and, unsurprisingly, is related to the cardinal direction east. The Proto-Indo-European root is *aus-, meaning to shine, and is a source for many

nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with atomic number 28 and the symbol Ni. It’s a hard, silvery-white, lustrous metal. It’s a common metal, but rarely found in pure form in nature. Nickel is widely used in all sorts of products, notably stainless steel, magnets, batteries, and as plating