Blog Wins Easily As Dictionary Word Of The Year

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary number one word of the year is blog. It received the largest number of user requests by a wide margin. Blog is defined as: "A Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer." Eight of the top ten words relate to breaking news stories from the past year, ranging from the 2004 presidential election ("electoral," #3) to natural phenomena ("cicada," #6). Topping off the list is "defenestration," the winning entry in Merriam-Webster's "What's Your Favorite Word?" online survey held earlier this year. "While most of our online dictionary lookups are for slightly difficult but still generic nonspecialized vocabulary," said John M. Morse, president and publisher of Merriam-Webster, "it does sometimes happen that words in the headlines so grab people's attention that they become a most frequently looked-up word. That is what occurred in this year's election cycle (to a level not seen since the days of 'chad' in 2000) with voluminous hits for words like 'incumbent,' 'electoral,' 'partisan,' and, of course, our number one