As you spend more time studying English vocabulary, and especially when you start learning the more interesting, difficult, and specifically useful words you come across in your reading, see on this site, or need to target for a test or presentation, you may find that you want to learn more about the English language and its history. We encourage you to look up the individual histories of the words you learn (their etymology) but there’s much more to be learned about a word than the bare bones of its linguistic origin. For example, why was the word created? What was the society like at the time, and what role did the word serve? How has the word changed over time – and how has the English language as a whole evolved? Here are some books we like that can get you started in your vocabulary explorations:

The Story of English: How the English Language Conquered the World
(Philip Gooden, 2009)
A comprehensive study of the origins and development of English, including its role in geopolitical history and present-day commerce.

The Story of English: Third Revised Edition
(Robert MacNeil, Robert McCrum, and William Cran, 2003)
Originally written in 1986 to accompany a nine-part television series of the same name that was produced and broadcast by the BBC (UK) and PBS (USA), this is a fascinating look both at the history and the current state of the English language, and how its many “flavors” enrich societies around the world. The television series is also available on video.

Word Histories and Mysteries: From Abracadabra to Zeus
(American Heritage Dictionaries, 2004)
An entertaining guide to the origin of five hundred common and not-so-common words, with detailed etymologies and fun facts. For example, did you know that the word acre didn’t originally refer to an exact amount of land, but rather the amount of land that could be plowed by a yoke of oxen in one day? The size of a farmer’s holding might depend on the strength of his cattle! Read this book for more interesting tidbits about the English language.

Anonyponymous: The Forgotten People Behind Everyday Words
(John Marciano, 2009)
You’ve probably heard that the reason we lunch on meat and cheese piled between two slices of bread is because the Earl of Sandwich didn’t want to take time out from his card game to eat a proper meal, but do you recognize the names of Lieutenant Harry Shrapnel or Etienne de Silhouette? These and many other interesting but little-known people are found in this amusing book, along with the words that have outlived them.