English Language

By Iloezlft
  • 5000 BCE

    The Celts

    The Celts begin to colonize Britain.
    Words of Celtic origin in modern English: bog, clan, crag, glen, pet,
    slew, slogan, trousers
  • 55 BCE

    Roman

    Roman
    First Roman invasion of Britain.
    Rome ends up occupying Britain for about 500 years.
  • 450

    Germanic Anglo-Saxon tribes

    Germanic Anglo-Saxon tribes
    Germanic Anglo-Saxon tribes begin to inhabit British Isles, and the English language is born!
  • 597

    Converting to Christianity

    The Anglo-Saxons start converting to Christianity, and English starts adopting new words from Latin, such as: angel, candle, hymn, lobster, martyr, plant, noon, school, sock
  • 792

    Vikings

    Britain first undergoes raids from the Vikings, giving English words from Old Norse: bull, club, law, ransack, reindeer, slaughter, wing
  • 1066

    The Norman Conquest

    The Norman Conquest
    The Norman Conquest.
    William the Conqueror invades
    Britain, and Britain's nobility I speaks French for over 300 years.

  • William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare begins writin. Shakespeare coins almost 2,000 new words in English, like:
    anchovy, domineering, gloomy,
    investment, luggage, rant, stealthy

  • Jamestown

    Jamestown becomes the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. Britain would go on to create settlements the world I over, and each area would make its own contributions to English.
    A few examples are: avatar (from
    • India), kangaroo (from Australia), zombie (from West Africa)

  • Dictionary of the English Language

    Samuel Johnson publishes his
    Dictionary of the English Language, which becomes the first widely used book of its kind. Dr. Johnson is responsible for many spellings in
    modern English.

  • The Oxford English Dictionary

    The Oxford English Dictionary
    The Oxford English Dictionary
    honors an emoji as its
    Word of the Year.