13.1 Woad

When and Where did I Find this Word: Staying in the Thanksgiving spirit I decided to search for vocabulary terms that Colonial Americans would have used. I am currently teaching about Colonial America and my next lesson is about life in the colonies. I did an internet search for life in the colonies vocabulary. Several terms came up on a website and I found the word "woad" to be the most interesting so I selected it as my word. http://eev.liu.edu/kk/colonial/VOCABULARY%20WORDS%20FOR%20COLONIAL%20AMERICA.pdf 

 

What does the word mean: The word woad was under the category of colonial clothing. According to Dictionary.com, a woad is a European plant that blue dye is extracted from its leaves. Now for a brief history lesson; early colonists grew this plant so they could dye clothing. The picture below is of a woad plant. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/woad

My familiarity with the word: I had never heard the word woad prior to my search for terms having to do with colonial life. I think that this is an interesting word because I had always thought Indigo was used to make blue dye, but it is interesting to know that colonists used other dyes as well.

 

Do I Believe this is a Word that I should Know Well: As a social studies teacher who will be leading a colonial day celebration with the whole school, I feel that I should know this word fairly well to be able to describe how people dressed during the Colonial Era and how they made clothing.

 

Do You Believe this is a Word You Want Others to Know Well: I do not think my own students will need to specifically know the word woad to understand key concepts about colonial life. I think it is a fun term for teachers and colonial historians to know. The average person will probably not need to know this word to understand how colonial people dressed.