Google Ngram Viewer

Google Ngram Viewer charts how often words and phrases appear in a huge collection of books over time. Type a word, or several separated by commas, and you get a line graph showing its rise and fall across the centuries. It is a lovely way to watch language and fashion evolve.

Try comparing words that mark change: the rise of a technology, the decline of a slang term, the spread of a name. Settings let you pick the years, the language collection and the smoothing.

The data comes from Google Books, so it reflects what was published, not everything people said. It is dangerous for anyone who likes arguing about word origins. It works on phones, though typing and reading charts is easier on a laptop. Related: /site/histography, /category/history-time.