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Merriam Webster Dictionary picks vaccine as word of the year

Vaccine selected as word of year by Merriam Webster Dictionary
Posted at 11:27 AM, Nov 30, 2021
and last updated 2021-11-30 14:26:51-05

The Merriam Webster Dictionary has picked its word of the year for 2021 and it's an obvious one considering these pandemic times.

The word of the year for 2021 is vaccine.

The editor of the dictionary told the Associated Press that the word vaccine was extremely high in their data every single day in 2021. The dictionary picks a word of the day each year.

The publisher said vaccine searches increased more than 600 percent from last year.

While vaccine is the word of the year, it's not a new word.

The word's history dates back to 1882.

And the Oxford English Dictionary has already named "vax" as its word of the year for 2021.