Merriam-Webster, to reflect the times in which we are living, has chosen a word ubiquitous as the word of 2021: vaccine .
"It was a word extremely mentioned in our data every day in 2021," Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster editor-in-chief, told the Associated Press before the announcement.
"It really represents two different stories. One is the scientific history, this extraordinary speed with which vaccines were developed. But there are also debates about security, politics and political affiliation. "It's a word that carries these two great stories," he said.
The word "vaccine" was not born overnight, or because of a single pandemic. The first known use dates back to 1882, but references appear earlier said Sokolowski.
Last year, Merriam-Webster - a company that produces books and is known for its dictionaries - chose the word "pandemic" as the word of the year.
