New Delhi: The term “woman” was chosen as Dictionary.com’s word of the year because it is “inseparable from the story of 2022,” despite being basic and widely used, as per the website. The selection for this year reflects the current cultural discussions about gender, identity, and language as well as how individuals use dictionaries to make sense of these challenging subjects, the website said.
This year, there were several high-profile events where searches for the word “woman” on Dictionary.com significantly increased, including the time when a question concerning the word’s definition was asked on the big stage. “This year, the very matter of the definition of the word ‘woman’ was at the centre of so many consequential moments, discussions, and decisions in our society,” John Kelly, Dictionary.com’s senior director of editorial, said in a press release, according to CNN.
“Our selection of ‘woman’ as the Word of the Year for 2022 – and how the word is defined, who is included in that definition, who the word applies and belongs to – highlights how important the work of a dictionary is, and how dictionaries can impact people’s lives,” he continued.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, the equal pay agreement reached by the US women’s soccer team, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Serena Williams’ announcement that she was “evolving away” from tennis, and the protests in Iran were all significant news events that contributed to Dictionary.com’s decision to make “woman” its word of the year.
As per the press release, Dictionary.com was careful to note that it wasn’t the final authority on the word given the discussion around it this year, adding that “the word belongs to each and every woman – whatever they define themselves.”
The other words on Dictionary.com’s shortlist, which includes the Ukraine flag emoji, “inflation,” “quiet quitting,” “democracy,” and “Wordle,” also provide a glimpse of the year.
