Fall 2024 update
Every year, our editorial team does a second round of revision and update to keep our flagship English datasets aligned with the ways people are currently communicating.
This time, they focused on the following dictionary datasets:
- Oxford Dictionary of English (ODE)
- New Oxford American Dictionary (NOAD)
As a result of this update, new headwords, phrases, and senses have been added to both lexical datasets. In addition to the inclusion of new materials, existing words were also revised, including sensitive revisions.
New entries
The new version of our English dictionaries includes more than 200 new headwords, phrases, and senses.
Some examples of new words are:
K-beauty
Skincare products and routines that come from or are associated with South Korea
neobank
A bank that only operates online and has no network of physical locations
cheat code
(In a video game) a combination of characters or buttons that changes how a game functions
content creation
The activity or profession of making digital content and sharing it on the internet
This update also focused on some areas such as science, medicine, technology, and the environment where you can see new words added to the language datasets, such as:
attack surface
The sum of all the potential entry points or vulnerabilities in a software environment which may be susceptible to attack or hacking
microsuction
Removal of small quantities of fluid or other material by means of micropipettes or small suction devices
pretraining
Training of a neural network or other AI system which sets the initial values of its parameters
popcorn lung
An informal name for the lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans
As part of our ongoing World English programme, our English lexical datasets welcomed words used in the Philippines, and terms from West and South Africa, East Asia, and elsewhere.
azonto
A freestyle dance originating in Ghana
boodle fight
(In the Philippines) a communal meal at which different kinds of food are laid out
chakalaka
(In South African cuisine) a spicy relish or side dish
debs
(In Ireland) a ball or formal dance for students in their final year of secondary school
New senses and phrases were added to the dictionaries. For instance:
bed
A track that forms the foundation of a piece of digitally produced popular music
cauldron
A large metal bowl in which a fire is ceremonially lit at the opening ceremony of a major sports event such as the Olympic Games
fail upwards
Progress despite lack of talent or qualifications, in an undeserved or meritless way
give someone five
Slap one’s hands against someone else’s as a gesture of celebration or greeting
Revision
Through extensive revision and feedback, the editorial team reviewed and updated more than 3,500 entries. This round of review also resulted in the creation of 100 full entries that were previously undefined derivatives.
Sensitive revision
Our editors also reviewed the policy around register labelling and added derogatory labels to around 75 meanings that were already labelled as vulgar slang.
New pronunciations
As we discover new words and review our current content, we also include and produce new pronunciations for the new headwords. Brand new IPA transcriptions and audio recordings were created for the more than 200 new headwords and phrases.
Our editorial team, which focused on pronunciation, also updated our transcription models to keep them in line with current patterns of English pronunciation.
