A leading dictionary adds new words every year to accommodate new vocabulary and slang terms used on a regular basis. Two terms — metaverse and altcoins — added to the dictionary should attract attention from the cryptocurrency and Web3 sectors.
What Happened: Merriam-Webster, which is the oldest dictionary company in the U.S., announced the addition of 370 words to the dictionary for the month of September.
Among the terms were dumbphone, video doorbell, microgrid, supply chain, gift economy, shrinkflation, side hustle, false negative, false positive and Galentine’s Day. Slang terms such as yeet, janky, sus, pwn, MacGyver, FWIW, ICYMI and adorkable were added.
Metaverse was also on the list for the latest update. The dictionary gives the term two definitions:
• Computing: a persistent virtual environment that allows access to and interoperability of multiple individual realities, any of the individual virtual environments that make up a metaverse.
• Cosmology: the hypothetical combination of all co-existing or sequentially existing universes.
Another word added to the dictionary is one pertaining to cryptocurrency: altcoin. The definition given by Merriam-Webster is “any of various cryptocurrencies that are regarded as alternatives to established cryptocurrencies and especially to Bitcoin.”
Use Case is another addition. The word can be used in the world of cryptocurrency and NFTs as investors and consumers question what a coin or collection does.
The new words follow two updates in 2021 announced in January and October with added words and phrases including blank check company (SPAC), dad bod, ASMR and silver fox.
Related Link: What Is The Metaverse
Why It’s Important: The addition of metaverse and cryptocurrency-related terms follows 2021 which saw NFT added to many dictionaries and ranking as the word of the year for Collins Dictionary.
The term metaverse has been used by many Web3 companies and is a frequently used term for many
NFT projects with the potential to grow their brand through metaverse virtual worlds and gaming activities.
The Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF METV launched in June 2021 and now has more than $450 million in assets under management. The ETF holds a basket of stocks of companies that are actively involved in the metaverse sector.
Another handful of metaverse ETFs have launched over the last year to take advantage of the growing sector.
Formerly known as Facebook, the social media giant made waves by announcing it was changing its name to Meta Platforms Inc META as it looked to invest heavily in the metaverse and focus on the sector as one of its key growth priorities.
Altcoins surged in popularity over the years as investors looked for the next big thing after missing out on Bitcoin BTC/USD, the leading cryptocurrency. There are millions of cryptocurrencies on the market today, with many of them existing outside of the Bitcoin world and having alternative use cases.
Bitcoin remains the most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization representing over 40% of the near $1 trillion market cap. Bitcoin is larger than the next six leading cryptocurrencies by market cap combined, including Ethereum ETH/USD.
Photo: Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
