What's in a word - Disaster

22 Feb 2020

What’s in a word – Disaster

What’s in a word – DisasterDo you learn new words every day? Have you ever wondered how people come up with new words? All words have an origin (starting place).

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and how the meaning has changed throughout history. Starting today, let's learn about the history behind the words we use often.

Today's word is 'disaster'. What does it mean?

It means (an event that results in) great harm, damage, or death, or serious difficulty such as during the heavy rains in India last year, or the earthquake in Pakistan.

What is the origin of the word 'disaster'?

The word 'disaster' exists in many forms in various European languages.
 	The English version we use is most closely tied to the French word désastre, which is derived from the Old Italian word disastro, itself derived from the Greek language.
 	Just like many of our Curious readers, the ancient Greeks were very interested in the stars and astronomy.
 	So, the dis- or dus- (bad) and aster (star) in the word 'disaster' meant an event influenced by a 'bad star'.
 	This is because the ancient Greeks believed planets' movements influenced events on Earth and a disaster occurred when the planets were aligned (arranged) in an unsuitable way.

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Do you learn new words every day? Have you ever wondered how people come up with new words? All words have an origin (starting place). […]

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Comments: 2

AshlayRajesh says:

23 February 2020 at 10:34 am

Can you put more word news!! Like every 3 days or so..

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- curioustimes says:
  
  23 February 2020 at 3:48 pm
  
  Sure, we take your feedback. We will build this in a few weeks.
  
  Cheers
  
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