word – English noun declension

English noun forms of word

Noun: word
Singularword
Pluralwords

Sample Sentences

  • But every word, whether written or spoken, which urges the woman to antagonism against the man, every word which is written or spoken to try and make of her a hybrid, self-contained opponent of men, makes a rift in the lute to which the world looks for its sweetest music. [1897, Ouida, “The New Woman”, in An Altruist and Four Essays, page 239:]
  • The word, whether written or spoken, does not look like or sound like its meaning — it does not resemble its signified. We only connect the two because we have learnt the code — language. Without such knowledge, 'Maggie' would just be a meaningless pattern of shapes or sounds. [1986, David Barrat, Media Sociology, →ISBN, page 112:]
  • Brian and Abby signed the word clothing, in which the thumbs brush down the chest as though something is hanging there. They both spoke the word clothing. Brian then signed the word for change, […] [2009, Jack Fitzgerald, Viva La Evolucin, →ISBN, page 233:]
  • Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself. [2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:]
  • Then all was silent save the voice of the high priest, whose words grew louder and louder, […] [1894, Alex. R. Mackwen, “The Samaritan Passover”, in Littell's Living Age, volume 1, number 6:]
  • Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda. [1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:]
  • I can't believe you want me back.
  • You've got Jen to thank for that. Her words the other day moved me deeply. Very deeply indeed.
  • Really? What did she say.
  • Like I remember! Point is it's the effect of her words that's important. [2006 Feb. 17, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4]
  • Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
  • Hamlet: Words, words, words. [c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:]
  • The name was a confused gift of love from her father, who could not read the word but picked it out of the Bible for its visual shape, […] [2003, Jan Furman, Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon: A Casebook, →ISBN, page 194:]
  • Well-meaning academics even introduced spelling absurdities such as the “s” in the word “island,” a misguided Renaissance attempt to restore the etymology of the [unrelated] Latin word insula. [2009, Stanislas Dehaene, Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read, →ISBN:]
  • “Ain’t! How often am I to tell you ain’t ain’t a word?” [1896, Israel Zangwill, Without Prejudice, page 21:]
  • Fisherwoman isn’t even a word. It’s not in the dictionary. [1999, Linda Greenlaw, The Hungry Ocean, Hyperion, page 11:]
  • In still another variation, the nonsense word is presented and the teacher asks, "What sound was in the beginning of the word?" "In the middle?" and so on. The child should always respond with the phoneme; he should not use letter labels. [1974, Thinking Goes to School: Piaget's Theory in Practice, →ISBN, page 183:]
  • All 15.5 million ‘words’ (or so–the exact length depends on the repeat sequences, which vary greatly) in the twenty-second chapter of the human autobiography have been read and written down in English letters: 47 million As, Cs, Gs and Ts. [1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Collins, →ISBN, page 301:]
  • I wrote a nonsense word, "umbalooie," in the Input Panel's Writing Pad. Input Panel converted it to "cembalos" and displayed it in the Text Preview pane. [2003, How To Do Everything with Your Tablet PC, →ISBN, page 278:]
  • Here the scribe has dropped the με from καθημενος, thereby creating the nonsense word καθηνος. [2006, Scribal Habits and Theological Influences in the Apocalypse, →ISBN, page 141:]
  • If M. V. has sustained impairment to a phonological output process common to reading and repetition, we might anticipate that her mispronunciations will partially reflect the underlying phonemic form of the nonsense word. [2013, The Cognitive Neuropsychology of Language, →ISBN, page 91:]
  • The size of a register in the MIPS architecture is 32 bits; groups of 32 bits occur so frequently that they are given the name word in the MIPS architecture. [1997, John L. Hennessy with David A. Patterson, Computer Organization and Design, 2nd edition, San Francisco, California: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc., §3.3, page 109:]
  • […] she believed them still so very much attached to each other, that they could not be too sedulously divided in word and deed on every occasion. [1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility:]
  • As they fell apart against Austria, England badly needed someone capable of leading by word and example. [2004 September 8, Richard Williams, The Guardian:]
  • And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. [1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 26:75:]
  • She said; but at the happy word "he lives", / My father stooped, re-fathered, o'er my wound. [1847, Alfred Tennyson, The Princess:]
  • There is only one other point on which I offer a word of remark. [1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House:]
  • "The Kaiser laid down his arms at a quarter to twelve. In me, however, they have an opponent who ceases fighting only at five minutes past twelve," said Hitler some time ago. He has never spoken a truer word. [1945 April 1, Sebastian Haffner, The Observer:]
  • Despite appearances to the contrary [...] dragomans stuck rigidly to their brief, which was not to translate the Sultan's words, but his word. [2011, David Bellos, Is That a Fish in Your Ear?, Penguin, published 2012, page 126:]
  • In what sense is God's Word living? No other word, whether written or spoken, has the power that the Bible has to change lives. [2011, John Lehew (senior), The Encouragement of Peter, →ISBN, page 108:]
  • mum's the word
  • Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George, inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons! [1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III:]
  • I have the word : sentinel, do thou stand; […] [c. 1623, John Fletcher, William Rowley, The Maid in the Mill, published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio), published 1647, scene 3:]
  • Among all other was wrytten in her trone / In golde letters, this worde, whiche I dyde rede: / Garder le fortune que est mauelz et bone. [1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Court:]
  • Let the word be 'Not without mustard'. Your crest is very rare, sir. [1599, Ben Jonson, Every Man out of His Humour:]
  • The old word is, 'What the eye views not, the heart rues not.' [1646, Joseph Hall, The Balm of Gilead:]
  • Have you had any word from John yet?
  • I've tried for weeks to get word, but I still don't know where she is or if she's all right.
  • […] Arise and take the young childe, and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and bee thou there vntill I bring thee word: for Herode will seeke the young childe, to destroy him. [1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 2:13:]
  • Word had gone round during the day that old Major, the prize Middle White boar, had had a strange dream on the previous night and wished to communicate it to the other animals. [1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:]
  • He sent word that we should strike camp before winter.
  • Don't fire till I give the word.
  • Their mother's word was law.
  • I give you my word that I will be there on time.
  • I managed to murmur some words of consolation as I left the funeral.
  • Can I have a word with you?
  • I had a word with him about it.
  • There had been words between him and the secretary about the outcome of the meeting.
  • After seeing me pull up, he decided to come out to start words with me about what I said about him.
  • Her parents had lived in Botswana, spreading the word among the tribespeople.
  • And that worde was made flesshe, and dwelt amonge vs, and we sawe the glory off yt, as the glory off the only begotten sonne off the father, which worde was full of grace, and verite. [1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, John:]
  • And so the Word had breath, and wrought
  • ⁠With human hands the creed of creeds
  • ⁠In loveliness of perfect deeds,
  • More strong than all poetic thought; […] [1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXVI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 56:]

Etymology

1. From Middle English word, from Old English word, from Proto-West Germanic *word, from Proto-Germanic *wurdą (“word”), from Proto-Indo-European *werdʰom (“word”), from *werh₁- (“to say, speak”). Doublet of verb, verve, and vort; further related to vrata.
2. Cognates
3. Cognate with Scots wird (“word”), North Frisian uurd, Uurt, wurd, wårde, wür (“word”), Saterland Frisian Woud, Wud (“word”), West Frisian wurd (“word”), Alemannic German wort, wourd, wuart, wòrt, wört (“word”), Bavarian boart, bort, bört, Wurt (“word”), Cimbrian bóart, bort (“word”), Dutch woord (“word”), German Wort (“word”), German Low German Woord, Woort (“word”), Limburgish waord, Woërt (“word”), Luxembourgish Wuert (“word”), Mòcheno bourt (“word”), Vilamovian wiüt, wuyt (“word”), Yiddish וואָרט (vort, “word”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish ord (“word”), Elfdalian uord (“word”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Scanian orð (“word”), Gutnish ård (“word”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌳 (waurd, “word”); also Ancient Greek ῥητός (rhētós, “spoken, stipulated”); also Latin verbum (“word”), Umbrian 𐌖𐌄𐌓𐌚𐌀𐌋𐌄 (uerfale, “temple”), Ancient Greek εἴρω (eírō, “to say, speak, tell”), Latgalian vuords (“name; word”), Latvian vārds (“name; word”), Lithuanian var̃das (“name”), Russian врать (vratʹ, “to lie”), Serbo-Croatian ва̏рати, vȁrati (“to cheat, deceive, trick, swindle; to be mistaken”), Armenian հորջորջել (horǰorǰel, “to call, name”), Ashkun vīri (“word”), Kamkata-viri vëri, viri (“word”), Prasuni veri, verī, vëre, vëri (“word”), Sanskrit व्रत (vrata, “command; law; will”). See: Middle English Nouns 'word', Old English Nouns 'word', Dutch Nouns 'woord', German Nouns 'Wort', Gothic Nouns '𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌳', Latin Nouns 'verbum', Latvian Nouns 'vārds'.

Verbs referencing "word"

Latin Nouns verbum, Danish Nouns ord, Norwegian Bokmål Nouns ord, Norwegian Nynorsk Nouns ord, German Nouns Wort, Faroese Nouns orð, Icelandic Nouns orð, Finnish Nouns virsi, Latvian Nouns vārds.