The year 2020 was all about coronavirus and its related terms. We were introduced to so many words this year, thanks to the virus that has changed our lifestyle in a significant way. Since we are almost at the end of this year, it is time for Collins Dictionary to release its word of the year and it is—any guess? Well, the word of the year 2020 in Collins Dictionary is ‘Lockdown,’ the noun that has come to define so many lives across the world in 2020. Its usage has boomed over the last year and so many other coronavirus-related terms. Coronavirus, Furlough, Megxit—are a few more words included in the top ten list. In this article, we bring you the top ten words for 2020 in Collins Dictionary’s list, its meaning and more.

According to Collins, Lockdown is defined as, “the imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, and access to public spaces.” Lexicographers reported that they picked the word because it had become synonymous with the experience of populations across the world as governments look to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Collis registered more than a quarter of a million usages of ‘lockdown’ this year, against only 4,000 the previous year. The way the pandemic has affected the daily use of language, six of Collins’ ten words of the year in 2020 are related to the global health crisis. Let us check out the top ten words in the list for this year and its meanings.

Collins Dictionary Top 10 Words of the Year 2020

1. Coronavirus: Collins Dictionary defines coronavirus as “any one of a group of RNA-containing viruses that can cause infectious illnesses of the respiratory tract, including COVID-19. So called because of their crown-like appearance in electron micrographs.”

2. Furlough: The dictionary defines furlough as “a temporary laying-off of employees, usually because there is insufficient work to occupy them; (verb) to lay off (staff) temporarily.”

3. Keyworker: This is another word which was more often used this year to define the crucial role of services. Collins Dictionary defines the word as “an employee in any of a number of professions considered to be essential to the functioning of society, for example, teachers, police officers, health workers, shop workers, etc.”

4. Lockdown: “The imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, and access to public spaces,” defines Collins Dictionary.

5. Megxit: Apart from coronavirus, there were other events that gave birth to different terms and its usage spiked among users. Megxit was one of the words that were used to describe Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s exit from their British royal family. Collins Dictionary defines the word Megxit as, “the withdrawal of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from royal duties, announced in January 2020. From Meg(han), Duchess of Sussex and (e)xit; influenced by Brexit.”

6. Mukbang: The Korean noun that has been increasingly popular on social media. The dictionary defines the word as “a video or webcast in which the host eats a large quantity of food for the entertainment of viewers.”

7. Self-Isolate: Collins Dictionary defines, the word self-isolate as, “to quarantine oneself if one has or suspects one has a contagious disease.”

8. Social Distancing: The word is defined as “the practice of maintaining a certain distance between oneself and other people in order to prevent infection with a disease.”

9. TikToker: Not many of us would have imagined TikToker would make it to the dictionary’s list of top ten words, but it did. The word is defined as, “a person who regularly shares or appears in videos on TikTok.”

10. BLM: The abbreviation for Black Lives Matter also made it to the dictionary. BLM is defined by the dictionary as "a movement that campaigns against racially motivated violence and oppression."

These are the top ten words for this year which made it to Collins Dictionary’s list. Previous words of the year for the dictionary include climate strike in 2019, single-use in 2018, fake news in 2017, Brexit in 2016 and many more.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 10, 2020 06:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).