dictionary

Merriam-Webster Dictionary has released its words of the year. At number six: "the."The three-letter word familiar to every English speaker takes on…

Editor Peter Sokolowski predicts the phrase is here to stay. "It's been used so broadly in the last two to three years ... that people in the future will have to know what it meant."

For a new word to enter the dictionary, it must meet three criteria: widespread use, sustained use and meaningful use. Merriam-Webster lexicographer Kory Stamper explains the process in Word by Word.