A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

CRIME • In Latin, this word's background began as the verb cernere, "to decide." Over time, a more specialized form arose, also in Latin, the noun crimen, meaning "a judgment," or "an accusation." Appearing in Middle English, its first uses were more in the sense of wickedness than illegal behavior. The first use in the modern sense dates to the 1600s.

The Word Origin Calendar