Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year is non-binary pronoun 'They'

The pronoun "they" has been named Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2019.

The American English dictionary revealed that users looked up the word 313 percent more than in 2018.

The word ‘they’
- was looked up 313% more this year than last.
- had a new sense added in September.
- is increasingly common in both public and personal communication.

‘They’ is our 2019 #WordOfTheYear.https://t.co/i7QlIv15M3

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 10, 2019

On its website, Merriam-Webster said the Word of the Year winner was determined based on data.

"It reflects a surprising fact: even a basic term—a personal pronoun—can rise to the top of our data. Although our lookups are often driven by events in the news, the dictionary is also a primary resource for information about language itself, and the shifting use of they has been the subject of increasing study and commentary in recent years," it said.

In September, Merriam-Webster officially added the non-binary pronoun "they" as an entry in its dictionary.

Merriam-Webster said the word can be used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is non-binary.

"[It is] a sense that is increasingly common in published, edited text, as well as social media and in daily personal interactions between English speakers. There's no doubt that its use is established in the English language, which is why it was added to the Merriam-Webster.com dictionary," it said.

The nonbinary pronoun was also prominent in the news this year, it added.

It pointed out that Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA) revealed in April during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Equality Act that her child is gender-nonconforming and uses "they."

British singer-songwriter Sam Smith also asked to be referred to as they or them in September. 

Lastly, even the American Psychological Association's blog officially recommended that singular "they" can be preferred in professional writing over "he or she" when the reference is to a person whose gender is unknown or to a person who prefers "they."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year in 2018 was "justice."

Other terms that were widely sought for in 2019 were "quid pro quo," "impeach," "crawdad" and "egregious."

—Ma. Angelica Garcia/JCB, GMA News