Merriam-Webster has announced its Word of the Year for 2021.
The American dictionary of reference has chosen “vaccine” as its Word of the Year, which, it said, was about much more than medicine in 2021.
“For many, the word symbolised a possible return to the lives we led before the pandemic,” the dictionary said in a post on its website.
“But it was also at the center of debates about personal choice, political affiliation, professional regulations, school safety, healthcare inequality, and so much more.”
Merriam-Webster’s the Word of the Year for 2020 was “pandemic”.
The word ‘vaccine’
– saw a 601% increase in lookups this year over last.
– had continual spikes of attention through the year.
– was about much more than medicine in 2021.‘Vaccine’ is our 2021 #WordOfTheYear.https://t.co/i7QlIv15M3
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 29, 2021
The American dictionary said its decision was based on surging interest in the term’s definition as lookups for the word surged 1,048 per cent from 2019 to 2021.
“The prominence of the word vaccine in our lives in this era becomes even more starkly clear when we compare 2021 to 2019, a period in which lookups for the word increased 1048%,” Merriam-Webster said.
It said the development of a new kind of vaccine containing messenger RNA, or mRNA, genetic material rather than an inactivated form of the virus called for its definition of the word to be expanded.
“The use of a vaccine that triggers an immune response in an entirely new way required that Merriam-Webster revise and expand its entry for the word, which the company did in May,” it explained.
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