Word for Wednesday: Bumblebee

blog home

Our Word for Wednesday theme for May is onomatopoeia. 

An onomatopoeic word imitates the sound of the action or thing it describes.

Onomatopoeic words are often used to describe animal sounds (chirp, hiss, meow, oink, squeak, etc), collisions (crash, bang, wallop, etc.); voice-related sounds (grunt, giggle, guffaw, rasp, wheeze, etc.); and water-related sounds (drip, gush, trickle, pitter-patter, etc.).

Our first word of the month is bumblebee. While the obvious onomatopoeic word associated with a bumblebee is ‘buzz’, the name of the creature itself is onomatopoeic too. 

Bumblebee dates back to the 1520s and replaced the Middle English ‘humbul-be’. Both bumble and ‘humbul’ imitate the humming, buzzing sound a bumblebee makes. It is possible that ‘humbul’ became bumble due to an association with the Middle English ‘bombeln’ meaning ‘to boom or buzz’. The word bee comes from the Old English ‘beo’. 

Another dialect word for the bumblebee was ‘dumbledore’, which came from the onamatapoeic ‘dumble’ and the Middle English ‘dorre’ meaning ‘buzzing or whirring insect’. ‘Dorre’ comes from the Old English ‘dora’.


05 May 2021
blog home

Try Spellzone for free

Recent Blogs

How to Recognise and Overcome Tricky Spelling Patterns With Clarity and Confidence
How to Teach Spelling with Minimal Stress: Simple Techniques for Busy Teachers
Spelling for Mindfulness: How Slowing Down Can Help You Focus and Learn
Spelling Slip-Ups: Everyday Words People Often Get Wrong (and Clever Ways to Get Them Right)
Jamie Oliver’s Dyslexia Revolution: Why Schools Must Do More Than Just Listen
Embedding Spelling Practice Across All Subjects in Primary Schools: Supporting Literacy Beyond English Lessons
How to Teach Spelling to Reluctant Learners: Engaging and Low-Stress Methods
Why English Spelling Is So Hard And What You Can Do About It
Spelling Tricks for Words That Don’t Sound How They’re Spelled
From Spelling to Pronunciation: Why English Words Don’t Always Sound How They Look
How Spelling Tests Can Be a Positive Learning Opportunity: Encouraging a Healthy Relationship with Assessments
Why Some Words Have Double Letters: Spelling Rules and Tips
Why Spelling Rules Matter: How Patterns Simplify Learning
Spellzone Earns High Praise in Independent Pedagogical Quality Report
Spelling Through Visualisation: Using Imagery to Remember Words
How Reading Improves Spelling: The Power of Context
Tricky English Spelling Patterns: How to Teach Common Letter Combinations
How to Create Effective Spelling Word Lists for Students: A Guide for Educators
Understanding Root Words: Unlocking the Meaning of Complex Words
Navigating the World of Hyphenated Words in English

"Spellzone really is an incredibly simple, engaging and cost effective resource - it makes a big difference to literacy levels."

Millthorpe School, York

read more...