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How “Ebola” got its name
To avoid stigmatizing the village at the center of the 1976 outbreak, researchers named the disease after a river in the central African region whose name French colonists modified from native Ngbandi. Read more.
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What is the “hanta-” in “hantavirus”?
“Hantavirus” is named after a Korean river where the virus was first isolated in the late 1970s. Read more.
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“Strait” vs. “straight”: straight talk on strait differences
Etymologically, ‘strait’ is “strict” and ‘straight’ is “stretched.” Read more.
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Phases of the word “moon”
Artemis II has me waxing philosophical, poetical, and, of course, etymological. Read more.
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Why Easter is called “Easter”
Easter, in both observance and word origin, is about new beginnings. Read more.