Name this word.
How it works. The blue line is how often a mystery word appeared in books from 1820 to 2019. Type a guess: its own line is drawn on top, with a % match, an arrow pointing to the right era, and any letters in the right place.
You’re playing a past puzzle. It won’t count toward your streak.
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Sources
A word’s life in books
Every day Words Ago picks one English word and shows only its history: how often it appeared in millions of books from 1820 to 2019. Some words rise with an invention, some spike in a war, some fade with the fashion that made them. You get six guesses. Each one draws its own curve on top, so you can see whether you’re in the right era.
When the game ends, you get the story of the word, with its key moments marked on the curve and a source for every fact. Finished puzzles stay in the archive, and practice has hundreds more words to play any time. New here? How to play takes a minute.