Word of the Week

vacuum (noun)

Meaning –a space entirely devoid of matter.

Example of using it in a sentence: "the space inside the vacuum cleaners dust bag is empty until you start to clean and that is why it is called a vacuum cleaner.”

Before 1900, the word was used by physics and chemistry scientist to mean Outer Space, a space with the pressure so low that any particles in the space are not affected. However, from 1901 when the vacuum cleaner was invented domestic science (the world of housekeeping) has used the word vacuum as a verb, meaning to clean with the vacuum cleaner “this room needs to be vacuumed”

Spelling Tip – the combination ‘uu’ in English spelling is very rear and I can only think of two – continuum and vacuum. There are others, but they are not used in everyday English and their sources are other languages. So, it is simply the case of knowing that vacuum is really special.

vac + uu + m

Use the word as many times throughout the week as you can. This can be verbally, in your written work or listen out for other people using it.