The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) has presented the 24th edition of the Dictionary of the Spanish Language, an update that incorporates thousands of words and new meanings that reflect how our way of speaking has changed. Among the novelties are terms that are already part of daily conversations, such as 'influencer', 'pódcast', 'gordofobia' or 'reduflación'.
The update comes twelve years after the previous major edition, published in 2014. On this occasion, the institution has included more than 6,000 novelties, including new words and meanings. The objective is to adapt the dictionary to the social, technological, and cultural changes that have occurred in recent years.
Furthermore, this edition has a special characteristic: it is the first to be developed directly in digital format. The printed version has been prepared from the edition published online, which represents a change in the Academy's way of working.
What new words has the RAE included in the dictionary?
Among the most striking additions are some words related to social networks and the digital world. This is the case of 'influencer', which is used to refer to people who have the ability to influence the tastes and decisions of their followers. Also included are 'pódcast', adapted to Spanish with an accent mark, and 'post', used to refer to online publications.
Technology also gains space with terms such as 'app', 'metaverse', 'ciberataque' (cyberattack), 'ciberseguridad' (cybersecurity), and 'metadato' (metadata). To these is added 'IA', as an abbreviated form of artificial intelligence, in addition to 'QR', which can now be used as a word to refer to the well-known code.
Social changes are also present in this new edition. The RAE incorporates 'gordofobia' (fatphobia), related to the rejection or discrimination towards fat people, and 'turistificación' (touristification), which refers to the increase of tourists in an area and the effects it can have on its inhabitants. Also included are 'ecoansiedad' (eco-anxiety), 'racializar' (to racialise), and 'trans'. In the economic field, 'reduflación' (shrinkflation) appears, a term that explains a practice increasingly known by consumers: reducing the size or quantity of a product without lowering its price.
'Porfa', 'cumple' and 'AOVE': everyday expressions that also enter the RAE
The new edition not only includes words related to technology or social changes. It also makes room for expressions that are commonly used in informal conversations. This is the case of 'porfa', a shortened way of saying please, and 'cumple', which is used to talk about birthdays. Gastronomy also plays a leading role in this update. The Academy incorporates 'AOVE', the acronym for extra virgin olive oil, as well as names of foods and dishes such as 'burrata', 'ramen', 'poke', 'miso' and 'tiradito'.
Among the words that also stand out is 'petricor', which describes the smell that appears when rain wets the earth. Another addition is 'basuraleza', a mixture of the words basura (trash) and naturaleza (nature) that is used to talk about waste abandoned in natural spaces. The list is completed with terms related to health, such as 'ELA' (ALS), 'hantavirus' and 'papillomavirus', and with entertainment, such as 'docuserie' (docuseries) and 'multijugador' (multiplayer).
With these additions, the Dictionary of the Spanish language reaches almost 100,000 entries and includes words that until now did not have their own entry in this reference work. The update shows how the language continues to change at the same pace as society and new forms of communication.
