-
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
First Roman invasion of Britain.
Rome ends up occupying Britain for about 500 years. -
450
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.
William the Conqueror invades
Britain, and Britain's nobility I speaks French for over 300 years. -
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
honors an emoji as its
Word of the Year.