Nonbinary pronoun ‘they’ added to dictionary

Merriam-Webster announced via Twitter Sept. 17 that the nonbinary pronoun “they” will be added to its dictionary.

The definition reads, “Used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary.”

Using it in a sentence, Merriam-Webster says “I knew certain things about … the person I was interviewing.… They had adopted their gender-neutral name a few years ago, when they began to consciously identify as nonbinary — that is, neither male nor female. They were in their late 20s, working as an event planner, applying to graduate school.”

The nonbinary pronoun they is one of 530 new words Merriam-Webster added to the dictionary. Other new “official” words include deep state, vacay, colorism, escape room and dad joke.

Check out the full list of new words at Merriam-Webster.com.

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