Cambridge Dictionary's 2021 word of the year is something we all need: Perseverance
Cambridge Dictionary has unveiled its 2021 word of the year: Perseverance.
Departing from the usual COVID-related words of the year such as "pandemic," "vax," and "lockdown," among others, Cambridge chose their pick through online searches of the term.
The word "perseverance" spiked in searches after the NASA rover of the same name made headlines with its Mars landing this year.
Their data showed that Cambridge Dictionary's online users looked it up over 243,000 times in 2021. 30,487 of those searches were between Feb. 18 and Feb. 24.
The Perseverance Rover landed on Feb. 18. It has since been exploring the geology of Mars and updating its findings on social media.
Take a moment to marvel at this: I captured my first view of a Martian sunset with my Mastcam-Z. It’s easy to be go-go-go all the time, but it’s also important to look up. pic.twitter.com/rMT7ovFwv6
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) November 19, 2021
Cambridge defines the term as the "continued effort to do or achieve something, even when this is difficult or takes a long time."
We often talk about showing perseverance in the face of adversity, "Cambridge wrote. "In 2021, people all over the world have had to show perseverance in the face of challenges and disruption to our lives from COVID-19 and other problems."
Meanwhile, their 2020 word of the year was a no-brainer: 'quarantine.'