Category: English Editing

Latin verbum is word. A verb is the important word in a sentence; verbatim is word-for-word (a verbatim report). Verbal,…

The basic meanings of this root are ‘heavy, serious’. If you look grave, you have a serious expression. (The has…

Acid is from the Latin adjective acidus, meaning sharp, sour. It has the same root as acer  keen, sharp. Even…

To condone is to forgive, overlook, pardon, or be uncritical of (an offence, or of an antisocial or illegal act).…

Some words are restricted to very particular uses. If you have learnt a word in one grammatical context, don’t automatically…

Militate derives from militis, one of the forms of the Latin noun meaning soldier or fighting man. If something militates…

The English used in black Africa varies widely from place to place, and often has features of the local languages.…

Titillate comes from a Latin verb meaning to tickle, and may be used both literally and figuratively. That is (literally),…