Dec 12, 2017

"Feminism" is Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year

Axios

Words printed in a dictionary. Photo: Peter Morgan / AP

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year for 2017 is feminism, according to the 189-year old dictionary company (now "provider of language information"), which calls it "a top lookup throughout the year." The popular lookups and context:

"Feminism spiked following news coverage of the Women's March on Washington, DC in January (and other related marches held around the country and internationally), and follow-up discussions regarding whether the march was feminist, and what kind of feminism was represented by organizers and attendees."

"The word spiked again when Kellyanne Conway said during an interview that she didn't consider herself a feminist. In this case, the definition of feminism was itself the subject of the news story — an invitation for many people to look up the word."
"Interest in the dictionary definition of feminism was also driven by entertainment this year: we saw increased lookups after the release of both Hulu's series The Handmaid's Tale and the film Wonder Woman."
"More recently, lookups of feminism have been increasing in conjunction with the many accounts of sexual assault and harassment."
"Today's definitions of feminism read: "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes" and "organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests."

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"Feminism" is Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year

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