Source: Oxford Dictionaries

It’s the first Word of the Week of 2016! To start off this year’s collection of vocabulary words, I decided to write about a word that I think perfectly describes me and all the regular readers of this segment. And no, I’m not saying we all love logos or logs (though there’s nothing wrong with that if you do). If you enjoy reading about these words as much as I enjoy writing about them, then you too are a “logophile”!

A “logophile” is someone who loves words. The word is composed of two Greek roots: the noun lógos “word” and the adjective phílos “loved”. The former stems from the verb légō, which means “I say”.

Oddly, there doesn’t seem to be much historical information available about the origin of the word “logophile”. All I could find while researching it was its Greek roots, with no mention of the point in history when it first came into English usage. Still, I love the fact that there’s a word to perfectly define people who are passionate about vocabulary. If you have characters or readers who are word enthusiasts, you may have fun writing for the “logophiles” in your stories and your audience alike!

What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?