- ‘NFT’ has been judged word of the year by Collins Dictionary
- The English language specialists chose NFT thanks to its explosion in growth and usage this year
- ‘Crypto’ and ‘metaverse’ also made the list
‘NFT’ has been voted as word of the year by Collins Dictionary, a British language institution dating back to 1824, beating other related terms such as ‘crypto’ and ‘metaverse’ to the title. Last year’s winner was, unsurprisingly, ‘lockdown’, but this year the acronym for non-fungible token has stormed to the title, with its growth and usage outdoing all the competition.
BREAKING NEWS The Collins Word of the Year is… NFT.
Find out more about #CollinsWOTY 2021 and see the full list here: https://t.co/gmsnCqA0yv#wordoftheyear #CollinsDictionary #NFT pic.twitter.com/XPhUM7oIoZ
— Collins Dictionary (@CollinsDict) November 24, 2021
NFTs Are “Convergence of Money and the Internet”
In a blog post revealing the winner, Collins described NFTs as a “unique digital certificate, registered in a blockchain, that is used to record ownership of an asset such as an artwork or a collectible”, which is one of the best we’ve seen, especially from a non-crypto source, and described how a “convergence of money and the internet” led to NFT surpassing as its word of the year.
NFT also beat ‘pingdemic’, ‘cheugy’, and ‘neopronoun’ to the top spot, all of which have seen huge growth in the UK this year. Collins referenced the huge sales of NFTs by Beeple this year as evidence of the space’s mammoth growth, and indeed for such an august organization as Collins to bestow NFT with this honor indeed shows just how far the space has come.
More to Come in 2022?
Those who haven’t been exposed to NFTs yet very likely soon will, thanks to the deals struck up between Universal Music and Bored Apes Yacht Club, four of whose members have formed the band Kingship, and the deal between Crypto Punks founders Larva Labs and United Agents.
With ‘crypto’ and ‘metaverse’ also making the top 10 list this year, anyone who says they are “still early” needs to take a look around.
