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Artwork by Christina Thomas

Etymology: AWE, the Root of Awesome

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The metamorphosis of the word awesome, from the root word AWE, began in the late 1500's. Many feared the wrath of God interpreting the word AWE, in a negative fearful way. By mid 1600's words such as awful and dread were replaced with awe-inspiring words, awesome and magnificent. By the 1990's awesome replaces words with less impact; cool, interesting and pretty good.