Focusing on Words
- http://www.wordfocus.com/
- An advanced Latin-Greek-English vocabulary source of etymologies with thematic units of roots, prefixes, and suffixes, and vocabulary quizzes.
MooT
- http://www.mootgame.com/
- The game of grammar, semantics, and etymology. Play online the game that investigates the history and meaning of English words.
Richard Lederer's Verbivore
- http://www.verbivore.com/
- Linguistic fun from, Richard Lederer, the best-selling author of The Word Circus and the new Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay, a helpful guide for grappling with vexing grammar questions.
The Phrase Finder
- http://www.phrases.org.uk/
- The meanings and origins of thousands of English phrases and sayings. Also includes a discussion forum to ask a panel questions on the meaning and origin of phrases.
The Word Detective
- http://www.word-detective.com/
- Words and language in a humorous vein. The online version of The Word Detective, a newspaper column answering readers' questions about words and language. Written by Evan Morris.
Word Spy
- http://www.wordspy.com/
- Collection of recently coined words, existing words that have enjoyed a recent Renaissance, and older words that are now being used in new ways.
Word and Phrase Origins
- http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/48468
- Directory. Part of the Internet Public Library. Describes books and web sites that might be helpful. Offers a hint on how to use an ordinary search engine when looking for etymology.
World Wide Words
- http://www.worldwidewords.org/
- Michael Quinion writes about International English from a British viewpoint. Hundreds of pages on the history, origins, evolution and idiosyncrasies of English, with features on new words and words in the news.
languagehat.com
- http://www.languagehat.com/
- Erudite blog on word origins and definitions, with dozens of links to dictionaries, commentaries, linguistic reference sites, and personal favorites of the author.
