National Thesaurus Day 2023: Whenever we need the perfect word to convey our thoughts in a piece or a conversation, our fingers often tap away to look for one website with millions of results of synonyms and antonyms, Thesaurus.
Many members of this digital decade might not know but Thesaurus was a book before it was a top-notch website. Thanks to Peter Mark Roget who started the book in 1848 and ended it in 1852 with more than 15000 words. His highly helpful creation is celebrated on January 18 as National Thesaurus Day.
January 18 also marks Roget's birthday. He titled the book “Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas and Assist in Literary Composition.”
Jan 18
— NSS 103 (@NSS_CPTC) January 18, 2023
Thesaurus Day@_NSSIndia @nsstvm @nssitdkerala pic.twitter.com/Hr1nHJrrGX
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What is Thesaurus?
- First recorded in English, the word Thesaurus was coined in 1730 and originates from the Greek thēsaurós, meaning “storehouse,” “treasure,” or “treasury.”
- Thesaurus is now the leading online thesaurus and a go-to website for writers, students, and professionals.
- Peter Mark Roget is credited as being the writer of the first thesaurus and popularizing the modern meaning of the word. January 18 also marks Roget's birthday.
- He titled the book “Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas and Assist in Literary Composition.”
Happy Thesaurus Day! Use as many words as you can today to describe, recount, narrate, tell, iterate words.#thesaurusday #lotsofwordswithmeaning #synonyms #hope #messageshopenz pic.twitter.com/rlSGULEbCu
— Messages of hope NZ (@messageshopenz) January 17, 2023
Who is Peter Mark Roget?
| Born | 18 January 1779 Soho, London, England |
| Died | 12 September 1869 (aged 90), West Malvern, England |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Known for | Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases |
| Spouse | Mary Taylor Hobson (1824–1833) |
| Children | 2 |
- British Doctor Peter Mark Roget was born on 18 January 1779 and passed away on 12 September 1869.
- He was a British physician, natural theologian, lexicographer, and founding secretary of The Portico Library.
- Best known for publishing, the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases, a classified collection of related words in 1852.
- In 1824 he read a paper to the Royal Society about a peculiar optical illusion along with the book.
- His work is regarded as the origin of the persistence of vision theory that was later used to explain apparent motion in film and animation.
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National Thesaurus Day Timeline
| TIME | EVENT |
| 4th Century | Sanskrit had a thesaurus in verse form, titled ‘Amarakosha.’ |
| 1848 | Peter Mark Roget began writing the unofficial ‘Thesaurus.’ |
| 1852 | Roget completes the first ‘Thesaurus.’ |
| 2009 | The Historical Thesaurus of English includes the date next to each word of when it got its meaning. |
Significance Of National Thesaurus Day
Happy National Thesaurus Day! I believe every writer should have a stack of Thesauruses in their arsenal. https://t.co/AOhVg1fL4O is one of my favorite resources. What are some of your favorite writing resource books? #writingcommunity #writers #writersoftwitter #amwriting pic.twitter.com/cEDPXIIf63
— R. M. McDermott (@RMMcDermott1) January 17, 2023
1. Thesaurus helps us expand our vocabulary and assists us in communicating with different groups of people,
2. Studies have shown that bigger vocabularies help children learn better as it offers more word choices which allows them to improve their reading comprehension skills.
3. The more accurate words we use the better story we will tell as different words make stories more stimulating and fun.
National Thesaurus Day Dates
| Sno. | Year | Date | Day |
| 1. | 2023 | January 18 | Wednesday |
| 2. | 2024 | January 18 | Thursday |
| 3. | 2025 | January 18 | Saturday |
| 4. | 2026 | January 18 | Sunday |
| 5. | 2027 | January 18 | Monday |
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