Collins Dictionary Names "NFT" as the Word of the Year

2021 is coming to an end, “NFT” has now been named the word of the year by Collins Dictionary. 

The dictionary said the word as a short form of Non-Fungible Tokens, representing an offshoot of blockchain technology that lets creators tokenize digital collectables and artwork. The word was accorded the most popular word as its usage has increased by 11,273% in 2021. Collins Dictionary lexicographers said the NFT word demonstrates a “unique technicolour collision of art, technology, and commerce” that has “broken through the Covid noise’ to become ubiquitous throughout the year.”

Other blockchain-related words, including “Crypto” and “Metaverse”, also made the Top 10 list of popular terms, with the former seeing a 468% increase in usage in the year-to-date period. 

Alex Beecroft, Managing Director of Collins Learning, said:

“It’s unusual for an abbreviation to experience such a meteoric rise in usage, but the data we have from the Collins Corpus reflects the remarkable ascendancy of the NFT in 2021. Its unique technicolour collision of art, technology, and commerce has broken through the Covid noise with dramatic effect.

“NFTs seem to be everywhere, from the arts sections to the financial pages and in galleries and auction houses and across social media platforms; whether the NFT will have a lasting influence is yet to be determined, but its sudden presence in conversations around the world makes it very clear our Word of the Year,” Beecroft added.

Earlier this month, Blockchain.News reported the popularity of the word NFT in the Chinese region, according to Google Search Trends, in remarkable growth.

In addition, the growth of the NFT word in China is considered an attempt from the Chinese investing community to embrace an alternative opportunity in crypto as Bitcoin-related transactions where it remains being banned, the global growth of the word highlights a broader factor fueling the popularity.