This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for June 22–June 28, 2025

At a NATO summit in The Hague, leaders voted to increase their nations' defense spending. The measure will require members of the military alliance to spend 5 percent of their budgets on defense-related expenses by 2035. The coalition also reaffirmed its support for Ukraine, though the issue of the country's future membership in NATO was not resolved. Alliance is derived from the Old French aliance, "bond" or "marriage."

Sixteen colossal statues were returned to Notre-Dame Cathedral’s spire in its latest stage of restoration after a devastating 2019 fire. The massive, copper-coated figures, each weighing about 330 pounds and standing 11 feet tall, were spared from fire damage because they had been removed for renovation a few days before the blaze. The Greek root of colossal is kolossos, "gigantic statue."

A rare 1614 Low German Bible was returned to its home in a library in Boerne, Texas, after being restored and digitized. How the Bible originally came to be in that small town is an enigma. A librarian discovered the Bible, of which there are only seven copies in the world, decades ago. Historians determined when and where it was published, but they have yet to solve the mystery of how it arrived in Boerne. The word enigma comes from a Greek word meaning "speak in riddles."

Scientists observed a group of Pacific Ocean orcas grooming each other using kelp, a common type of seaweed. It's the first evidence of a marine mammal making and using a tool in the way primates are known to. The killer whales were seen biting off pieces of kelp and deliberately rolling them between their bodies; researchers believe they do this to brush off dead skin or remove parasites from each other's bodies. Like primates, orcas likely groom each other as a way to bond.

A study seems to disprove a common hypothesis about why birds sing as the sun rises. The popular scientific theory says that birds are noisier at dawn because their songs are clearer and travel farther in the more humid early-morning air. The new research points to a different explanation: Birds likely sing in the morning to mark territory and communicate about available food after an inactive night. Analysis of birdsong recordings found no link to any environmental cause for the timing.

After a seven-game series, the Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions. Despite a valiant effort by the underdog Indiana Pacers, the Thunder proved to be an indefatigable opponent. It was the first championship win for the team, following an unwaveringly successful season and a determined advance toward the title. Thunder player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who averaged 30.3 series points, was named MVP. The Latin root of indefatigable means "cannot be wearied."

New research shows that octopuses use their tentacles to sample the tiny organisms on the surfaces they touch. Scientists found that when the octopuses feel objects in the dark ocean using their eight limbs, they're gathering chemical information from the microbes they sense. Octopuses can determine whether food is safe to eat based on the presence of specific bacteria and other microorganisms. The Greek roots of microbe are mikros, "small," and bios, "life."

After many attempts to capture a bear whose head was stuck in a lid for two years, rescuers finally caught, sedated, and freed the animal. The black bear was a cub when the blue plastic lid, likely a 55-gallon drum cover, became lodged around his neck. As he grew, it became tighter and more dangerous. Michigan wildlife experts trapped the bear and anesthetized him; once he was asleep, they removed the plastic collar, which had left him scarred but mostly unharmed.

The Dalai Lama has said that he'll name a successor on his 90th birthday next month. The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama plays an important role in the lives of exiled Tibetans in the Himalayas and other parts of India. His followers are anxious about what will happen after he dies, and they are eager to learn who is next in line to take his place as the new Dalai Lama. Successor is from succeed and its original meaning, "come next after."

Hours after a cease-fire between Israel and Iran went into effect, each country accused the other of violating it. A day later, the tenuous peace agreement seemed to be holding. About two weeks after Israel's initial attack on Iranian military sites, experts are both relieved about the shaky truce and concerned that it won't last unless the two countries begin negotiations. The Latin root of tenuous is tenuis, which means "thin, slender, or fine."