Word Origins

This A-to-Z etymology guide reveals the people and characters whose names have evolved into common English words. Have you ever wondered about the origins of words like “Bowdlerize”? In 1818 Thomas Bowdler published and abridged set of Shakespeare's plays which “omitted those passages which might offend family propriety”—thereby making his name literally synonymous with the practice of distorting someone’s words. In Word Origins , Cecil Hunt provides fascinating profiles of hundreds of people wh