The legislation establishing the position of American Poet Laureate/Consultant in Poetry was signed into law on this date in 1985. When Robert Penn Warren was designated the first U.S. poet laureate two months later, he joined a three-century-long procession of British poets laureate. Or is that poet laureates? Both plurals are considered acceptable, but it's more common to pluralize the poet than the laureate.

Now that we know how to refer to more than one titled poet, let's take a look at where the term poet laureate comes from. The poet has its roots in a Greek word meaning "maker" or "poet" and English speakers have referred to a maker of verses as a poet since at least the 1300s.

And laureate? Like poet, the word laureate also comes from Greek. More than 2500 years ago, victors in athletic and musical competitions were crowned with wreaths of laurel. By the early 1500s, some now-forgotten (but undoubtedly praiseworthy) English-speaking soul had thought to label recipients of honor or recognition for achievement in an art or science laureates.