-The latest additions to the dictionary illustrate that, as the English language develops, documenting new and newly prominent words across the cultural spectrum is essential to help people better understand a rapidly changing world.

– Highlights include: forest bath, wabi-sabi, chair yoga, hamburger menu, cottagecore, PSU, Generation A, band, memify, vote in order of priority, small parkand metaverse

OAKLAND, CA., March 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Dictionary.com, the leading online and mobile English educational resource, today announced hundreds of newly added terms. Notably, their team of lexicographers updated over 2,400 entries in the dictionary, including 235 new entries, 72 new definitions in existing entries, and 1,024 revised definitions. The main themes covered in its update reflect important topics in today’s society and culture, including: homelessness, accessibility, disability, the ongoing pandemic, climate and the environment. , and the social sciences. These terms and definitions reflect Dictionary.com’s commitment to documenting and describing an ever-changing English language.

“Because our world is constantly changing, our language is constantly changing,” said John Kelly, senior editor. “Since Generation A for the spirit of the times, our latest dictionary update shows how vast, varied and complex these changes can be. Our job at Dictionary.com isn’t just to capture these language shifts, it’s to help our users make sense of them and why they matter to their lives.”

Below are highlights of the full article and list of terms, accessible here: https://www.dictionary.com/e/new-dictionary-words-spring-2022/.

Roaming
Newly added terms from Dictionary.com such as homeless, without housingand homeless are increasingly used to refer to people who do not have stable housing. These additions follow increased usage among members of this community and by advocates who see these expressions as better able to convey the range of experiences that the single term homelessness does not.

Accessibility
The increase in the availability of assistive technologies has led to an influx of terminology. Some of the newly added terms related to accessibility technology include alt text, auto captionand legend live. Although some of these terms or technologies they refer to are familiar, the specific characteristics of each type may differ and overlap, and capturing these distinctions and similarities is one of the challenges of defining these words.

Disability
disabled is a comprehensive umbrella term to describe people or communities of people who live with functional limitations in performing major life activities, such as walking, lifting, seeing, or learning. Among the many changes to terms used in the context of disability is the addition of an important usage note to disability himself.

Culture
The expansion of mainstream culture and subcultures has led to various entries covering a range of topics. These include words related to leisure and well-being like forest bath and chair yoga to the Internet and online life as metaverse and memify. Other examples like Generation A, PSU, band, and verklempt show how words are used in a variety of contexts.

The ongoing pandemic
After more than two years, the lasting effects of covid continue to be reflected in language. Some new terms have emerged during the pandemic. In other cases, existing terms have become more common due to the influence of covid on so many aspects of our lives. Many terms are examples of the evolutionary language of vaccination and masking, including: vax ,vaxxer, antivax, antivax, anti-maskand anti-mask.

In some cases, adding terms as a result of COVID was somewhat indirect. For example, Dictionary.com added non-taster and hypogeusia, both of which are used in the context of the effects of COVID on smell and taste. These additions precipitated the addition of their opposites, super taster and hypergeusiawhich are not associated with COVID, but nevertheless made sense to add in tandem.

Climate and environment
As the climate changes, the overlapping contexts of science, personal behavior, politics, politics, activism, and technological innovations are sources of emerging terminology. Chief among the terms that have been added in this area is that which is now commonly used to capture the urgency of the issue of climate emergency. Dictionary.com’s additions also reflect a focus on extreme weather events caused by climate change, as well as greater awareness and widespread use of some of the technical terms used to study and discuss them. Some of them include mega-drought and mesovortex.

Additionally, the drive to reduce the use of fossil fuels is often discussed in relation to the transportation industry, where many terms have emerged regarding evolving technologies: VE (electric vehicle), HEV (hybrid electric vehicle), PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle), VEB (battery electric vehicle), charging station, electric bike, and micromobility.

Social Sciences
The daily discussion of a wide range of issues presents vocabulary originally used and developed by professionals and scholars in fields such as sociology, psychology, and race and gender studies. Many of these terms are not new but have more recently been adopted (or are moving towards) common usage. Here are some of the terms added to the dictionary for the first time or whose definitions have been updated to reflect modern meanings: trigger, problem, code switching, translanguage, and decolonize.

About Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com
Words define every aspect of our lives, from our ideas to our identities. We aspire to empower every person, from every background, to express themselves, connect, and open doors to opportunity through the power and joy of language.

We are the premier destination for learning, discovering and having fun with the limitless world of words and meanings. We help you make sense of the ever-changing English language so you can put your ideas into words and your words into action.

Contact:
Jacqueline Grant
The TAC group
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Dictionary.com