World

Know Oxford English Dictionary’s Word Of The Year

By
OB Bureau

New Delhi: Lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) have chosen ‘Vax’ as the word of the year.

According to OED senior editor Fiona McPherson, ‘vax’ was an obvious choice as it has made “the most striking impact,” BBC reported.

“It goes back at least to the 1980s, but according to our corpus it was rarely used until this year,” she was quoted as saying. 

 

“When you add to that its versatility in forming other words – vaxxievax-a-thonvaxinista – it became clear that vax was the standout in the crowd.”

Vax and vaxx are both accepted spellings but the form with one x is more common.

Here are Oxford English Dictionary definitions for vax:

  • vax n. A vaccine or vaccination
  • vax v. Treat (someone) with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease; vaccinate
  • vaxxie n. A photograph of oneself taking during or immediately before or after a vaccination, especially one against Covid-19, and typically shared on social media; a vaccination selfie
  • anti-vax adj. Opposed to vaccination
  • anti-vaxxer n. A person who is opposed to vaccination
  • double-vaxxed adj. Having received two doses of a vaccine

Vax, was first recorded in English in 1799, while its derivatives vaccinate and vaccination both first appear in 1800.

 

All of these words ultimately come from the Latin word vacca, which means cow. According to the OED, this is due to English physician and scientist Edward Jenner’s pioneering work on vaccination against smallpox using cowpox – a mild infection that occurs in cows – in the late 1790s and early 1800s.

According to Oxford Languages, its corpus, or language resource, gathers news content that is updated daily and contains over 14.5 billion words for lexicographers to search and analyse.

 

OB Bureau

Recent Posts

Newborn Girl Found Abandoned Near Bush In Odisha’s Mayurbhanj

Baripada: A newborn girl was found lying near a bush at Bhanra village under Karanjia…

November 8, 2024

Shah Rukh Khan Bagged ‘Baazigar’ After Salman Khan Rejected It

Mumbai: Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, the leading superstars of Bollywood, came from different…

November 8, 2024

Dhanush & Nithya Menen Starrer ‘Idli Kadai’ To Release On This Date

Mumbai: Actor-filmmaker Dhanush took to his X handle on Friday to announce the release date…

November 8, 2024

National Hockey: Another Big Win Takes Odisha Closer To Knockout Stage

Chennai: Odisha all but booked a berth in the knockout stage of the 14th Hockey…

November 8, 2024

Traffic Restrictions For Panchaka, Badaosa At Dhabaleswar Temple In Odisha’s Cuttack; Check Details

Cuttack: Several traffic restrictions have been imposed to ensure smooth movement of devotees to Dhabaleswar…

November 8, 2024

Late Sidhu Moose Wala’s Brother Is A Carbon Copy Of Him

Mumbai: Sidhu Moose Wala's parents Balkaur Singh and Charan Kaur shared a picture of their…

November 8, 2024

Unique Protest: No Dating, No Sex, No Babies With Men Who Voted For Donald Trump

New York: A group of American women has launched an unprecedented protest against men who…

November 8, 2024

4 More Handicrafts Granted Official Approval In Odisha; Total Number Now 55

Bhubaneswar: Four more handicrafts were granted approval by the Odisha government, taking the total number…

November 8, 2024