Springfield, MA, Sept. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From biohacking to zoodles, more than 840 new words and definitions have been added to Merriam-Webster.com, the dictionary helping millions of people understand and use language better. These new words and definitions offer a window into how vocabularies evolve and expand, and reflect a wide variety of fields and endeavors, ranging from the technical to the conversational.
More on How a Word Gets Into the Dictionary, plus an Infographic
Science and technology, as always, bring us many new words including fintech, “products and companies that employ newly developed digital and online technologies in the banking and financial services industries,” and biohacking, “biological experimentation (as by gene editing or the use of drugs or implants) done to improve the qualities or capabilities of living organisms,” as well as medical marijuana and the related CBD, both used increasingly for medicinal purposes.
“The one constant of a vibrant living language is change, and English has never been more alive than it is today,” adds Peter Sokolowski, Editor at Large at Merriam-Webster. “In this age of fast communication, and technological and scientific advances, we continuously encounter new ways of describing the world around us—and the dictionary is a record of these changes.”
Noteworthy Internet television series are often described as bingeable, “having multiple episodes or parts that can be watched in rapid succession,” while social media has brought us the word Instagramming. Both of these new words may be associated with the term time suck, referring to “an activity to which one devotes a lot of time that might be better or more productively spent doing other things.”
Beer enthusiasts, or hopheads, will appreciate the new sense of the word flight, meaning “a selection of alcoholic drinks (such as wines, beers, or whiskeys) for tasting as a group.”
“As lexicographers, we are constantly tracking the ever-expanding lexicon, only defining the words that have demonstrated the kind of widespread, sustained, and meaningful use that shows they’ve become fully established members of the language,” explains Emily Brewster, Associate Editor at Merriam-Webster. “Meanwhile, the language continues to do what it’s been doing for as long as it’s existed: grow and adapt to meet the needs of the people who use it.”
Other notable mentions include Latinx, a new sense of salty, and the abbreviations TL;DR and GOAT, which stands for “the greatest of all time,” and also refers to “the most accomplished and successful individual in the history of a particular sport or category of performance or activity.”
See a larger selection of new words added—and their definitions—here.
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