Benzinga | Nov 30, 2021 04:23PM EST

Merriam-Webster Names 'Vaccine' As 2021 Word Of The Year

As the omicron variant of the coronavirus begins its sweep across the globe, Merriam-Webster has announced "vaccine" as its 2021 Word of the Year.

What Happened: Merriam-Webster bases its selection on which words generate the most online searches at its website, coupled with year-after-year increases in specific words rather than evergreen searches, according to an Associated Press report.

"This was a word that was extremely high in our data every single day in 2021," said Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster's editor-at-large, who noted lookups for "vaccine" increased 601% over 2020.

"It really represents two different stories. One is the science story, which is this remarkable speed with which the vaccines were developed. But there's also the debates regarding policy, politics and political affiliation. It's one word that carries these two huge stories."

The vaccine developments have also generated huge returns for the stocks of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), BioNTech SE-ADR (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA), among others.

This is the second consecutive year the coronavirus has inspired Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year -- "pandemic" was the top choice in 2020.

See Also: PreMarket Prep: Omicron, Holiday Rally Stocks, & Li Auto

What Else Happened: Merriam-Webster added that the runners-up for its Word of the Year all had some sociopolitical connection to the events of 2021.

The runners-up, in descending order, were "insurrection" as per the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot; "perseverance," in connection to the same-named NASA Mars rover; "nomad," from the Best Picture Oscar winner "Nomadland"; "cicada" from the invading insects; and "guardian" from the new name of the former Cleveland Indians.

Also in the runners-up list were "meta" from Mark Zuckerberg's attempts at rebranding; "cisgender" from the new focus on gender identities; "woke" from the political divisions within the U.S.; and "murraya," the tropical tree and the word that won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee for 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde.

Photo: Gerd Altmann / Pixabay.