We won't say 'chupito', we'll say 'dichado': the new words that are entering the dictionary

BarcelonaThe focus on emotional well-being and the rise of international cuisine are two global phenomena that have permeated our lives and have also reached the dictionary. The lexicographical commission has added 375 new entries to the normative dictionary of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (DIEC) in 2025, including 117 new entries and 258 modifications or additions. Among the new entries are words such as self-help, dana, rumors, sleeve, jacuzzi, aquagym, sushi and mozzarellaAmong the expansions of meaning in words that already existed, words like cloud, frontal, migrate and padMany words from different dialectal varieties are also being incorporated into the dictionary "so that all speakers feel a connection to it," says philologist Sandra Montserrat. Expanding the standard helps to strengthen the unity of the language.

Some of the most exciting new features

New social phenomena

• Self-help: the use of the phrase self-help It registered a very significant increase in use during the pandemic, so, although it already exists in the dictionary separately car and aid, usage has led to its introduction as a word.
• ProcrastinateTime management is one of the modern neuroses, and this word has become popular to explain postponing an unavoidable task.
• SensitizeIn a world linked to global phenomena, there are many voices dedicated to spreading ecological or linguistic awareness; thus, this new sense of concern for a problematic issue emerges.
• Identity: a word of collective awareness that has taken flight in the media.
• AllyA participle that is used more often than the verb and is very useful as an adjective. It comes from a wartime context (the Allies of the World War) but is currently used to describe a person close to a cause or ideology, such as the supposed allies of feminism.

A question of power

• Establishment: an international word of French origin, but which is used everywhere in English and enters directly without any adaptation.
• OrchestrateThe media have made the metaphorical image of the orchestra commonplace in society, and therefore the image of the conductor pulling the strings, so Catalan, like other languages in the area, uses this meaning, also in adjectives such as orchestrated campaign.
• RumorsThe curious thing is that a compound word is formed from a neutral base (rumor) and a learned ending (-lodge), as happens in zoology. Rumor The entrance has also changed, as an unconfirmed piece of news that is being passed from mouth to mouth.
• FrontalIt has broadened its uses; it no longer only designates the light placed on the forehead, but also appears and prioritizes more updated meanings, as in adjectives such as frontal attack either frontal opposition.

Everyday life

• Dana: the neologism of the year 2024 and it is done as a lexicalized form (not in acronyms, DANA, for isolated depression at high levels) because it becomes a common phenomenon and not an exceptional one.
• Water, fitness and tai chiSports are also a global trend that arrives with the original language and the spelling is naturalized as much as possible with the Catalan form to enter the dictionary.
• PadNow that yoga and Pilates are so common, many city dwellers own yoga mats (insulators), which until now only existed in medieval books and were large sacks filled with straw for lying down. This is a projection of ancient words that accumulate meanings, one of the phenomena that occur when a language is alive.
• Prequel and sequelFor those who are more sedentary, two words from the audiovisual world that were already very common and that the speaker has spontaneously formed incorrectly, as if "sequel" were not a word but a word to which a prefix was added HE-.
• SleeveFinally, the genre of comics of Japanese origin enters the dictionary and, by entering when it is already so widespread, it also designates comics and can serve as an adjective.
• Cloud: computer science is another major source of new words, in this case it enters as a new meaning with a calque of the English word (cloud), which is a metaphor that also works in Catalan. Like the case of migrate.
• StainIt broadens the meaning and finally, normatively, means to copulate. Just like fornicate, but in this case with the understanding that it would be outside of marriage.

International cuisine

• Wok, sushi, tofu, cooked (pronounced with an open e): very common words in restaurants that we took from their original source.
• Falafel: comes from Arabic and designates not only the dish (a ball of spiced and fried chickpea paste), but also the sandwich filled with falafel.
• CappuccinoA coffee with foamy milk or whipped cream, its origins lie in Italian and the color of the Capuchin friars' robes. Its spelling is now standardized in Catalan.
• MozzarellaIt's such a widespread word that the Italian way is preferred. mozzarella has led to the introduction buffalo in the dictionary.
• DidalAlthough "thimble" exists in the dictionary, it was necessary to agree on a word to designate the shots and the IEC proposes the dedalet to designate the act of drinking a liqueur from a small glass while doing Sant Hilari.

Dialectal variation

• Child: very small child in the Balearic Islands.
• Roi: bad in the Valencian Community.
• Fried: the participle of fritura in the islands has been used as a noun to refer to a dish made with pieces of fried meat or offal.
• Ointment: traditional Menorcan drink with gin and lemonade.
• Clara and shampoo: it is no longer necessary to argue about which of the two words is more genuine to refer to beer diluted with lemonade or soda, they are now standard.

The second edition of the DIEC, which is the normative reference work regarding the lexicon of the Catalan language, was published in 2007. Since then it has been updated periodically (for example, all demonyms are being introduced) and consistency with other reference works is ensured, with updates being applied immediately. online version.