Tomorrow we eat turkey, lots and lots of turkey — or some other suitably large holiday-themed bird — and, I hope, feel not just stuffed and sated, but also grateful.

And that, of course, brings us to this week’s word: gratitude. I must thank my mom for inspiring this week’s etymological exploration.

I must confess to not feeling particularly grateful recently, despite many reasons to the contrary, and have realized that it is something that takes practice, and is something that I, and perhaps all of us, need to cultivate, and not just once a year.

As noted by the Oxford English Dictionary, gratitude comes to us from the Middle English word, and also the French, of the same spelling; this, in turn, comes to us from the Late Latin grātitūdo, from the Latin gratus, meaning “pleasing” or “thankful.” Hence the word’s modern meaning, as related by the OED, is “a warm sense of appreciation of kindness received, involving a feeling of goodwill toward the benefactor and a desire to do something in return.”

To put it another way, if you’re grateful, you act like it, showing your gratitude in a gratitudinarian — yes, it’s a real word — sort of way.

Gratitude made its first appearance in written English in 1565, in Thomas Cooper’s Thesaurus Linguæ Romanæ et Britannicæ, with the definition, “Gratitudo, Kindnes: gratitude: thankefulnes.”

We’ve encountered Cooper (1517-1594) before; he was the bishop and doctor who wrote the aforementioned Thesaurus — later simply called “Cooper’s Dictionary” — and was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I.

A generation later, Shakespeare had a literary field day — originally a hunting day, or, alternatively, a day on which a military review was held, or on which a scientific expedition was carried out — with gratitude, first in about 1601, in Act 4, Scene 4 of All’s Well That Ends Well, in Helena’s line: “Time was, I did him a desired office, dear almost as his life; which gratitude, through flinty Tartar’s bosom would peep forth, and answer, thanks.” A tad odd, I know.

The second notable instance in which the Bard uses our word comes in King Lear, in Act 2, Scene 2, when the titular character includes it in the line: “The offices of nature, bond of childhood, effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude.”

A gratitude — used with the article “a” — can also be a show or sign of thanks; this form of gratitude is sadly rare — both literally and figuratively. But perhaps we can change that, starting today, and in advance of tomorrow.

So, go ahead and practice your gratitudinarian behavior before you enjoy that turkey. Please also feel free to send me your word ideas, and until next time, cheerio!

Reach columnist Will Mari at features@dailyuw.com.