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The year was full of notable stories in women’s sports, including superstar Serena Williams’ announcement that she will be “evolving away from tennis” ongoing debates about transgender athletes the equal pay settlement reached by the US Women’s National Soccer Team and WNBA star Brittney Griner’s internationally condemned imprisonment by Russia and her subsequent release.In Iran, a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, died in the custody of the government’s so-called morality police, sparking outrage and a protest movement that has been primarily led by women, who are demanding greater freedom and autonomy.(Incidentally, the word queen derives from a word simply meaning “woman.”) In September, the death of Queen Elizabeth II captured the world’s attention in a way that few other things do, prompting discussion and debate about the life and the legacy of the woman who became one of the world’s longest reigning monarchs.Women were also prominent in several of 2022’s other key moments and the discourse around them: The original meaning of man, meanwhile, was simply “person.” The first records of the word woman in English come from as early as the year 900. The Old English word wīf meant “female” or “woman,” and is the source of the word wife (which originally could refer to a woman regardless of marital status). Woman comes from the Old English wīfman, which combines the words wīf and man. The meaning is actually embedded right there in the roots of the word. The election also added to the ranks of the nation’s women governors, resulting in what will be a record number of women-12-serving as governors in 2023. The outcome has been attributed in part to an electorate, and particularly women, voting in reaction to the Dobbs ruling. That dynamic played out in November’s midterm elections, which upended trends and expectations. Unsurprisingly, it resulted in both polarization and galvanization. The historic decision was immediately considered-across the political spectrum-to be one of the most consequential in decades, socially and politically. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, officially overturning Roe. In June, the court formally issued its ruling on Dobbs v. Further search spikes occurred again in June and July. Wade, and lookups for woman surged again (along with significant increases in searches for related terms like autonomy). In May, a leak revealed the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Question posed by Senator Marsha Blackburn to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing in March 2022 The policies that these questions inform transcend the importance of any dictionary definition-they directly impact people’s lives.Ĭan you provide a definition for the word woman ? More than ever, we are all faced with questions about who gets to identify as a woman (or a man, or neither). The prominence of the question and the attention it received demonstrate how issues of transgender identity and rights are now frequently at the forefront of our national discourse. We at weren’t the only ones to take notice. It was a rare case of not just a word in the spotlight, but a definition. Specifically, the surge in lookups came after she was asked by Senator Marsha Blackburn to provide a definition for the word woman. The biggest search spike started at the end of March, during a confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who in April became the first Black woman to be confirmed as a US Supreme Court justice. Subsequent spikes eventually resulted in double the typical annual search volume for the word. Our selection of woman as our 2022 Word of the Year reflects how the intersection of gender, identity, and language dominates the current cultural conversation and shapes much of our work as a dictionary.ĭuring the height of the lookups for woman on in 2022, searches for the word increased more than 1,400% (a massive leap for such a common word). This year, searches for the word woman on spiked significantly multiple times in relation to separate high-profile events, including the moment when a question about the very definition of the word was posed on the national stage. Why we chose woman as the 2022 Word of the Year It’s a word that’s inseparable from the story of 2022.ĭ’s Word of the Year is woman. And yet it’s a word that continues to be a source of intense personal importance and societal debate. One that’s fundamental not just to our vocabulary but to who we are as humans.
It’s one of the oldest words in the English language.
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