For more than a decade, Merriam-Webster has been issuing annual lists with the top ten words of that year. For 2017 the word is feminism. This interesting news came to us from CNN in their article, “Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2017 is ‘feminism’.”
At first, Merriam-Webster determined its contents by analyzing page hits and popular searches on its website. Since 2006, the list has been determined by an online poll and by suggestions from visitors to the website. This year the word was part of a year-long theme in both politics and entertainment, i.e. Women’s March, Wonder Woman, The Handmaid’s Tale, #metoo, etc.
Merriam-Webster is not the only publication that issues a word of the year. Dictionary.com issued their 2017 word of the year and it was complicit. Oxford Dictionary also issued theirs and it was youthquake – defined as a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people.
Melody K. Smith
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