DAY 283 of 365 Days of Literacy for Kids:

Obsolete words are no longer in general use and may have fallen out of favor for nearly a century or more, but who says obsolete and rarely used words can’t be revived by kids who love words?

Today’s word is KEMB, documented in use as far back as the 10th century, but displaced along the way by the word COMB.   To arrive at the word comb, we’ve been through cemben, kembian, kemm, cemme, kempt and many more “comb” words.

In fact, words we still use today, kempt (properly maintained) and unkempt (improperly maintained), derive from this journey of comb words.

KEMB is a verb meaning to disentangle or smooth hair by running a comb through it; to comb.

Kids will love the word kemb because it sounds so much like comb and means the same thing.  It’s the excitement of knowing a little word secret that makes it so much fun to use!

Use the word kemb with your kids and grandkids today.

And don’t overlook kembing… the action of the verb kemb; combing.

We all do it.  Just call it kembing what it is.  Or what it WAS!

Join me each day here for OCTOBER OBSOLETE – 365 DAYS OF LITERACY FOR KIDS! – fun, easy and completely do-able!