ian brookes

The Longest Word in the Collins English Dictionary

This post was originally published on 4th April 2012 and updated on 21st July 2020. What is the Longest Word in the Collins English Dictionary? The longest word listed in Collins English Dictionary* is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, which is the full name of the chemical DDT. It has 31 letters. In… Read More

Air bridges and she-sheds offer positive vibe after lockdown

After a year when many of the new words coming into the Collins Dictionary have involved measures to ensure public safety amid the coronavirus pandemic, the words that have arrived in June may hint at how people are planning to escape from lockdown and re-establish social activities. Some of the… Read More

‘Meme’ and ‘pros and cons’ head list of words looked up in May

One month ago, we were able to report that the word quarantine was being looked up on the Collins Dictionary website more often than any other word, which suggested just how much people’s lives were being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. A month on, however, things look a little… Read More

From edgelords to niblings: discover the latest words added to the Collins Dictionary

The latest crop of words added to the Collins Dictionary still contains a number of items that can be attributed to this year’s dominant coronavirus news story, but there are also words that have nothing to do with viruses, public health, or epidemiology. Nevertheless, it is true that the coronavirus… Read More

Five new words in Collins English Dictionary, December 2019

Here are the editorial team’s favourite new words and meanings added to Collins English Dictionary online in December. daith Defined as “an ear piercing that forms a loop around the inner cartilage of the ear”, daith was selected by one of the editors largely for its… Read More

From ‘Brexiety’ to ‘prorogation’: how Brexit has changed the way we use language in 2019

Britain’s exit from the European Union has dominated the news agenda since 2016, when Brexit was nominated by Collins Dictionaries as its Word of the Year. 2019 was supposed to be the year that Britain finally left the EU. At the time of writing, however, that still hasn’t happened, in… Read More

Etymology Corner – Collins Word of the Year 2018

It’s the most wonderful time of the year once again, Collins Dictionary have announced the 2018 Word of the Year shortlist. Our lexicographers monitor the 4.5 billion-word Collins Corpus and create the annual list of new and notable words that reflect an ever-evolving culture and the preoccupations of those who… Read More

#MeteorWatchDay – We delve into etymology behind this astronomical event

June 30 this year has been designated Meteor Watch Day, and people are encouraged to look out for spectacular bursts of light in the sky caused by small pieces of rock or metal burning up when they enter the earth’s atmosphere from space. These objects get their name from… Read More

We take a look at the etymology behind words like ‘pwn’, ‘covfefe’ and ‘newt’ that came about by mistake

President Donald Trump recently caused his Twitter followers to scratch their heads when he wrote about ‘negative press covfefe’. The president had probably just made a mistake in typing the word ‘coverage’, but the apparently random assortment of letters got people wondering exactly what a covfefe might be, and… Read More