Word History

I love word histories. Here's one I ran across...

On June 2, 455 Vandals sack Rome. We still use the words: vandal, vandalize, vandalism. It must have been a memorable day to survive 1,500 years in our vocabulary.

Van·dal (vndl) KEY NOUN:

1) One who willfully or maliciously defaces or destroys public or private property.
2) A member of a Germanic people that overran Gaul, Spain, and northern Africa in the fourth and fifth centuries CE and sacked Rome in 455.

ETYMOLOGY: Latin Vandalus, Vandal, probably of Germanic origin