To like something is to regard it with favor or to find it agreeable. To appreciate something is to value it highly or to be grateful for it. This verb suggests wise judgment, delicate perception, and keen insight in realizing the worth of something. You might appreciate (or be grateful) for a friend’s thoughtfulness or appreciate (regard highly) the nuanced flavors of a fine wine. Appreciate is also used to talk about grasping something mentally or being aware of it, as in the case of someone who appreciates (but is not grateful for!) the dangers of a situation.

Someone who is aloof, or is perceived as such, is disinterested or reticent and reserved. Aloof suggests a cool, detached, and distant air, which makes sense considering this term sailed into English on cool winds. Aloof is formed from a- (here meaning “into” or “toward”) and luff, a nautical term referring to the forward edge of a fore-and-aft sail; its earliest sense in English was as an adverb meaning “to the side from which the wind blows.”

A full train station is filled to capacity. A teeming train station is beyond full—it’s abounding or swarming with people. Teeming comes from the verb teem meaning “to abound or swarm,” or “to be prolific or fertile.” The earliest sense of the verb was “to produce offspring.” Given the fertile history of this word, it is not surprising that teem often appears in close proximity to the word life, as in the case of a tide pool that is teeming with life.