You will not be surprised by the decision of the lexicographers from the Oxford English Dictionary
Lexicographers in the Oxford English Dictionary have chosen the word “Vax” for 2021. In general, the use of words related to vaccines has increased this year, reports the BBC.
This is due to the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, there is also an increase in the use of “vaccinated”, “unvaccinated”, “anti-vaccine”, etc. Fiona McPherson, senior editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, said “vaccine” was the obvious choice, as the word had the “biggest impact” of the year.
“The abbreviated form of the vaccine dates back to at least the 1980s, but has rarely been used until this year. When you add the participation of this abbreviated form in other words such as vaccination, vaccinated, anti-vaccine – it becomes clear that this is the most prominent word, “McPherson explained.
Definitions of vax Oxford English Dictionary:
• vax (noun) – vaccine or vaccination
• vax – Give someone a vaccine to build immunity to a disease
• vaxxie (noun) – A photo of yourself taken during or immediately before or after vaccination, especially against COVID-19, and usually shared on social media; selfies for vaccination
• anti-vax (Adv.) – Opponent of vaccination
• anti-vaxxer (noun) – A person who is against vaccination
• double-vaxxed – After receiving two doses of vaccine
The use of the word pandemic has also increased by more than 57,000% this year.
But Oxford decided it was
an unprecedented year with too many contenders for the word or phrase of the year,
so expand your award to include other keywords such as lockdown, COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, work from home, and more.
This year’s winning word, vax (vaccine), was first recorded in English in 1799, while its derivatives vaccinate and vaccination first appeared in 1800.
All of these words ultimately come from the Latin word vacca, which means cow.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this is due to the pioneering work of the English physician and scientist Edward Jenner on smallpox vaccination in the late 1790s and early 1800s (originally called cowpox).
Cambridge’s English dictionary defines “perseverance” as the word 2021.
The English Cambridge Dictionary defines 2021 as the word “perseverance”. A reference in the dictionary shows that “perseverance” is a noun that means constant efforts to achieving something, even when it is difficult or time consuming.
“We can officially announce the word of 2021 according to the Cambridge Dictionary – this is ‘perseverance’,” said a message posted on Twitter. In 2021, this word was searched in the dictionary more than 243,000 times. The biggest wave of demand was registered in February, when NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance landed on the Red Planet.
According to Wendalin Nichols, Cambridge Dictionary Publishing Manager, “we often see jumps in word searches related to current events when those words are less familiar.” It is therefore logical that the search for the word has increased since the descent of the NASA rover.
Just as perseverance is needed to land a rover on Mars, so is perseverance to deal with the challenges and disruptions in our lives caused by COVID-19, climate disasters, political instability and conflict. We appreciated this connection and believe that users of the Cambridge Dictionary are doing the same, “Nichols told Sky News.
In January this year, searches on the Cambridge Dictionary website increased for “insurrection”, “impeachment”, “inauguration” and “acquit” as the US presidential election attracted the attention of the whole world. According to the editors, this is another proof that the words searched in the Cambridge Dictionary often reflect current world events.
