Sudoku Among 100 New Words in Latest Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary

July 12, 2007

Some 100 new words have been added to the the eleventh edition of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Some of the words have been in use by the public (including professional writers) for quite sometime that it came as a a surprise that they are not yet official dictionary entries. The latest copyright version will be available in bookstores anywhere this fall. Among the new entries are the following with their official definitions:

1. Bollywood, n. the motion-picture industry in India
2. ginormous, adj. extremely large (gigantic + enormous)
3. sudoku, n. a puzzle in which several numbers are to be filled into a 9x9 grid of squares so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9
4. gray literature, n. written material (as a report) that is not published commercially or is not generally accessible
5. hardscape, n. structures (as fountains, benches, or gazebos) that are incorporated into a landscape
6. perfect storm, n. a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors
7. RPG, n. a computer language that generates programs from the user's specifications especially to produce business reports
8. nocebo, n. a harmless substance that when taken by a patient is associated with harmful effects due to negative expectations or the psychological condition of the patient
9. microgreen, n. a shoot of a standard salad plant (as celery or arugula)
10. speed dating, n. an event at which each participant converses individually with all the prospective partners for a few minutes in order to select those with whom dates are desired
11. telenovela, n. a soap opera produced in and televised in or from many Latin-American countries

Hmm, I wonder if these words are already considered legit in Scrabble.