This month’s word is Betwixt.
This month’s word was chosen purely because we love its feel of old fashioned, fusty bookishness: Betwixt (adverb or proposition) – meaning ‘between’
“Betwixt” and “between” have similar origins: they both come from a combination of the prefix ‘be-’ and an Old English root meaning ‘two’. Both words appeared before the 12th century, but the use of betwixt dropped off considerably toward the end of the 1600s.
It survived in the phrase “betwixt and between” (neither one thing nor the other), but nowadays betwixt is uncommon. It’s still widely understood, though, and this writer, for one, will be making a conscious effort to reintroduce it into common parlance. Until next month’s word, at least.
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