The "So, What's The Real Meaning Of The Word Pandemic?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a newspaper story titled "Word of Year by consensus: Pandemic."  What else could it have been this year?  The story began with..."In the land of lexicography, out of the whole of the English language, 2020's word of the year is a vocabulary of one."  For those who may not know the word lexicography, it is "the process of writing, editing, and/or compiling a dictionary.  An author or editor of a dictionary is called a lexicographer."  And, for the first time ever, two companies who produce dictionaries agreed on the same word as their top word: pandemic.  Just about everyone agreed it was not a shock when more than one dictionary chose the same word.  The word pandemic is not only a technical word, but today has become general.  Nine or ten months ago, I don't remember ever saying or hearing the word used anywhere.  I'm almost sure I knew of the word, but perhaps I really didn't.  Mr. John Kelly, who is a senior researcher for Dictionary.com, reported that searches on Dictionary.com increased more than 13,500% March 11 which was the day the World Health Organization declared an outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global health emergency.  

From Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary

Ever since that time the searches on Dictionary.com have remained 1,000% higher than usual.  Searches at Merriam-Webster.com site on March 11 was 115,806% higher than searches experienced on the same date the year before.  The word "pandemic" has roots in Latin and Greek and is a combination of "pan," which means for all, and "demos," which means for people or population.  The latter is the same root of "democracy."  

From Roget's College Thesaurus

The word dates back to the mid-1600s when it was used to specify disease in a medical text.  I searched for the word in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary as well as in Roget's College Thesaurus.  The results can be examined in the above photographs.  So, what was once just a word in a dictionary that many had never heard of before while others may have heard of it, but never used it in conversation, is now one of the top words in the English language.  And, when will we stop hearing it?  For people my age...never.  For those who may perhaps be in elementary school, maybe by the time they are my age, the word may never be spoken again.  We can only hope!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.