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The publishing company selected "vaccine" as its word of the year, noting that searches for the word increased by 1,048 percent when comparing 2019 to 2021.
Searches increased by 601 percent comparing 2020 to 2021.
"The word vaccine was about much more than medicine in 2021. For many, the word symbolized a possible return to the lives we led before the pandemic," Merriam-Webster wrote. "But it was also at the center of debates about personal choice, political affiliation, professional regulations, school safety, healthcare inequality, and so much more. Few words can express so much about one moment in time."
The company also announced a list of 10 words that were runners-up for word of the year.
These included:
- Insurrection
- Perserverance
- Woke
- Nomad
- Infrastructure
- Cicada
- Murraya
- Cisgender
- Guardian
- Meta
Find a full breakdown and explanation for the list here.
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