Dictionary.com has released its “biggest update ever.” adding 650 new words and revised 11,000 existing definitions on its platform. Providing a more comprehensive understanding of words related to race, mental health, climate and the LGBT+ community.
It has removed the terms “homosexual” and “homosexuality,” as these terms have come to be disrespectful used to signify sickness and pathology. replaced them with “gay, gay man, or gay woman” and “gay sexual orientation” which are more accepted today.
Dictionary.com said in a statement, “It’s a way for us to put people first, and not practices, in our language.” The biggest update include the words “ace,” “asexual,” “biromantic,” “deadname,” “gender-inclusive,” “trans+,” and “Pride.”
“Pride” with a capital P : The online dictionary have now added a separate entry for “Pride” with a capital P, to affirm and celebrate specific LGBTQIA+ communities.
Senior editor at Dictionary.com, John Kelly said, “The work of a dictionary is more than just adding new words. It’s an ongoing effort to ensure that how we define words reflects changes in language and life.”
Updation of suffix “sexual” : Dictionary.com has updated the definitions of words suffixed by “sexual,” such as bisexual or pansexual, to also include emotional attraction, apart from romantic or sexual attraction.
Updation of word ‘ace’ : “ace” previously defined as a “very skilled person” or a “a playing card or die marked with or having the value indicated by a single spot, but now included its use as a short form for people who are asexual on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
Addition of new word ‘biromantic’ : The newly added search result for “biromantic,” — refers to an individual “who is romantically attracted to people of two specific and distinct gender identities, as both men and women.”
How big is BIG? We've updated over 15,000 entries on topics ranging from race and sexual orientation to climate and internet culture.https://t.co/kNdHhsLYrn
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) September 1, 2020
Addition of new word ‘deadname’ : “deadname,” which is “the previous name of someone who has changed that name, especially the pretransition first name of a trans person.”
Capitalisation of the word Black : Another major update to the dictionary was the capitalisation of the word Black.“Capitalising Black confers the due dignity to the shared identity, culture, and history of Black people,” the site said.
Update mental health-related terms : “commit suicide” replaced by terms such as “die by suicide” or “end one’s life,” to remove the moralistic and criminal connotations associated with the word “commit” that often prevents us from looking at suicide in more considerate ways. Word “addict” replaced with “a person addicted to” or “a habitual user of,” to “foreground the fact that people who have addictions are human beings, first and foremost.”