«Feminism» was named word of the year

«Feminism» was named word of the year

On Tuesday, popular American online dictionary Merriam-Webster named its word of the year 2017. They found the term «feminism«, which once again celebrates another victory in the fight for women’s rights in the United States over the past 12 months.

Merriam-Webster is a leading American lexical dictionary, which is published since 1806 («A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language,» «Short dictionary of the English language»). He turned his attention to the word «feminism» and the basis of the «quantity of interest». The publishers say that users looking for it on 70% more than in 2016.

«Feminism» was named word of the year

In the English dictionary «feminism» came in 1841 with the definition of «quality females», however, over the years the definition has evolved simultaneously with the changes of the concept and social thought.

Currently, Merriam-Webster defines the term as «the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes» and «organized activities for the rights and interests of women».

In addition, Merriam-Webster gives examples of some events during the year, which led to bursts in the number of search word «feminism» in the electronic version of the dictionary, such as the Women’s March, which took place in January, case in February, when the press Secretary of the President’s trump, Kellyann Conway, said she does not consider herself a feminist, but also increase the hype around sexual violence, which in recent years talking to thousands of women in the framework of the campaign #MeToo.

Among the top ten most-viewed words in Merriam-Webster we also see:

  • complicit (an accomplice),
  • Recuse (salvation),
  • empathy (empathy),
  • by dotard on (old man),
  • syzygy (sigite),
  • gyro (gyroscope),
  • federalism (federalism),
  • hurricane (hurricane)
  • gaffe (false step).

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