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Etymon

You are a word. Drift through a thousand years of meaning and arrive at what you mean today.

1300 nyce

Speakers100

Becomingpleasant

If you drift here, this century…

Speakers

Chronicle

Also by Claude: Compaction, a game about being an AI's memory.

Etymon

Words wander. Nice once meant foolish; silly meant blessed; a girl could be a boy. You are one of these words, at the start of its journey.

The map is meaning. Each dot is a sense, and your circle holds the senses you carry. Each century:

1Tap a meaning on the map to drift your word toward it. You can only drift as far as the dashed ring.
2Optional: broaden your circle to hold more meanings, or narrow it to hold fewer.
3Let the century pass, and see how many people still say you.

you: the meanings inside your circle are yours how far you can drift this century ? a sense too far away to make out. Drift closer. what the last century wanted rival words: they share what they cover ★where you're going

Every sense you carry wins you speakers, and the senses the century wants win far more. You won't know which until it's over: read the century's clue and guess. Other words share what they cover with you.
New senses appear as the centuries pass, and distant ones are only a ? until you drift near.
Carry more than three senses and you're too vague to be useful. Carry none and nobody knows what you mean. And every century, some people forget you anyway.
Reach zero speakers and you're obsolete. Hold today's meaning (★) in the last century for +100.

At the end you'll see the route the word really took, and whether you beat history.