Words & languages
The “Word origins” quiz — Words & languages. It has 25 questions in five categories: Travelling words, Names in the lexicon, Ancient roots, Meaning makeovers, Words with birthdays. Questions get harder as the points go up, from 100 to 500.
The 100- and 200-point questions are open here. The rest show only their first words, and there are no answers: all of that is in the game itself.
English safari came from a word meaning “journey” in which language?
Robot entered English through Karel Čapek's play R.U.R. The source word robota belongs to which language?
Shampoo comes from an…
In the gameTycoon comes from taikun…
In the gameWhat did Arabic al-jabr…
In the game
Which pictured 18th-century English aristocrat is the namesake of the filled-bread meal?
Which pictured French inventor gave his surname to the raised-dot writing system?
Which land agent in…
In the gameWhich French finance minister…
In the gameWhich pictured physician gave…
In the gameRoman office-seekers wore a toga candida. Which color lies behind the word candidate?
Latin musculus, ancestor of muscle, literally meant which small animal?
Greek skholē, ancestor of…
In the gameThe Latin roots behind…
In the gameLatin calculus, source of…
In the gameOld English mete, ancestor of meat, meant what broader category than animal flesh?
Old English steorfan, ancestor of starve, originally meant what action regardless of cause?
In Middle English, girl…
In the gameThe Old English ancestor…
In the gameLatin nescius, which reached…
In the game
What word for polluted urban air was formed by blending smoke and fog?
What late-morning meal name was formed by blending breakfast and lunch?
Which pictured Cambridge polymath…
In the gameWhich pictured English writer…
In the gameWhich novel by the…
In the gameAll 25 questions and the answers are in the game. Invite your class or friends with a link — guests need no account.