Coronavirus and the New Words We Added to the Dictionary in March 2020 – “A dictionary’s mission is to give accurate information about the current vocabulary of a language. Providing precise definitions, usage information, dates, etymologies, and pronunciations takes time; typically, additions to our dictionary occur in large batches a few times each year as our staff completes the various tasks required for each new entry or revision. Because the COVID-19 crisis has developed at such a rapid pace and some of the words and ideas associated with the crisis are themselves new, we have made an unscheduled update for words connected with the disease and responses to it. Some of these terms are new to the dictionary, others have revised definitions. Some words are newly prominent in the language, qualifying for entry in record time, while others had previously been scheduled for entry in the near future…”