Languages of the World

Most Widely Spoken Languages

Listing the languages spoken by more than 1% of humankind, this table enumerates speakers of each tongue as a primary or secondary language. Figures based on data from Linguasphere 2000. For more information visit <www.linguasphere.org>.

English Neologisms

New entries from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (© 2008). The date in parentheses is the date of the word’s earliest recorded use in English of the sense given (not necessarily of the word’s very earliest meaning in English).

air quotes (1989): a gesture made by raising and flexing the index and middle fingers of both hands that is used to call attention to a spoken word or expression

dark energy (1998): a hypothetical form of energy that produces a force that opposes gravity and is thought to be the cause of the accelerating expansion of the universe dirty bomb (1956): a bomb designed to release radioactive material dwarf planet (1993): a celestial body that orbits the Sun and has a spherical shape but is too small to disturb other objects from its orbit edamame (1951): immature green soybeans usually in the pod

fanboy (1919): a boy who is an enthusiastic devotee (as of comics or movies) infinity pool (1992): an outdoor swimming pool having an edge over which water flows into a trough but seems to flow into the horizon

jukebox musical (1993): a musical that features popular songs from the past kiteboarding (1996): the sport of riding on a small surfboard that is propelled across water by a large kite to which the rider is harnessed malware (1990): software designed to interfere with a computer’s normal functioning mental health day (1971): a day that an employee takes off from work in order to relieve stress or renew vitality

mondegreen (1954): a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung netroots (2003): the grassroots political activists who communicate via the Internet especially by blogs norovirus (2002): any of a genus of small round single-

stranded RNA viruses; specifically: Norwalk Virus pescatarian (1993):avegetarianwhosedietincludesfish phytonutrient (1994): a bioactive plant-derived compound (as resveratrol) associated with positive health effects

pretexting (1992): the practice of presenting oneself as someone else in order to obtain private information

prosecco (1881): a dry Italian sparkling wine racino (1995): a racetrack at which slot machines are

available for gamblers soju (1978): Korean vodka distilled from rice subprime (1995): 1: having or being an interest rate that is higher than a prime rate and is extended especially to low-income borrowers 2: extending or obtaining a subprime loan

supercross (1983): a motorcycle race held in a stadium on a dirt track having hairpin turns and high jumps Texas Hold’em (1995): poker in which each player is dealt two cards facedown and all players share five cards dealt faceup webinar (1998): a live online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments wing nut (c. 1900): one who advocates extreme measures or changes: radical