Identifying Emergent Meanings via the Word of the Year Process: A Case Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Dictionary publishers’ Word of the Year announcements attempt to capture the public’s attention as well as the zeitgeist. For the Cambridge Dictionary, the Word of the Year selection is informed by lookup data on dictionary.cambridge.org; in 2020 that data told the story of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of all the pandemic-related terms, quarantine ranked highest both in overall lookups and in the number and size of search spikes, making it the clear choice for Word of the Year. The research in support of the Word of the Year selection helped Cambridge to identify emergent meanings and changes in usage for quarantine and lockdown , leading to timely updates of those entries.