"My seven-year old coined this word. Could you tell me how I can get it
into a dictionary?" Questions like this pop up in my mailbox from time to
time, from folks wondering how to get a word to take up residence amidst
the hallowed leaves of a lexicon. Thousands of new words do enter the
dictionaries every year. So, what is the criterion behind their inclusion?
What does a word have to do to be worthy of being called `legitimate?' Who
decides what is a good word and what is not?

Usage is the single most important factor to determine if a word gains
membership of that exclusive club. It has to appear extensively, in
many different sources, such as newspapers, magazines, books, TV, radio,
Internet, etc., over several years to show that it is gaining currency. It
has to fill a need and describe a phenomenon for which no other word
exists. Also, it doesn't hurt if the word is catchy and captures public
imagination.

Dictionary editors read a wide variety of sources to monitor the language.
They take notes--known as citations--on little 3x5 index cards or in a
computer database. Once there is enough evidence, they consider whether to
include it in the next edition of their dictionary, and if the answer is yes,
work to define it precisely. Here is an example of a made-up word, which
long-time AWAD subscribers know well, that got into the dictionary. The word
linguaphile, which I coined back in 1994, finally found a place in a dictionary
six years later (in the American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed., 2000).

So how do you win that honor for your little baby? It's not easy. Share it
with family and friends, use it and encourage them to publish letters,
articles, stories using that word. And even if it doesn't make it into the
dictionary, remember that it is still a bona fide word -- nothing in the
definition of the word `word' says that a word has to be in a dictionary to
be called one. Have fun coining words, and enjoy this week's coinages that
DID reach the dictionaries.