The Le Robert dictionary reflects the changes in society and welcomes new words between IT developments and current terms.

The dictionary wants to be “always a mirror of society”. The new version of little Robert of the French language 2024, which will be released this Thursday, will welcome new words, some of which were revealed this Tuesday France Inter.

“We will find the most important concerns of society and of the time in new words,” assures Géraldine Moinard, editor of the editions of Le Robert.

news in the news

Among “hundred novelties” many topical words: “nasser”, a word often used in demonstrations, which defines the fact of “encircling, restrained by a chain of law enforcement officers”. Complosphere is also part of this new selection.

The news of the Anglo-Saxon world and royalty is also found in this new edition of Robert with the consecration of the definition of Camilla’s “Queen Consort” title across the English Channel.

The environment, which according to Géraldine Moinard is also “a major concern of the present”, sees certain words consecrated in the dictionary: the “megabasins” now have a definition, while violent clashes broke out in Sainte-Soline in March, during a mobilization against one of these projects. “Microplastics” or the “reparability index” and “climate debt” are also part of this new list.

Still in the news, the “environmental zones” popping up in many metropolitan areas of France will also have a definition.

Last year, the term “environmental fear” was enshrined in the Petit Robert. “We need vocabulary to express our fears,” explains Géraldine Moinard.

Technology in the spotlight

The world of new technologies “is very present” in this list of novelties, as well as within society, through the appearance of words like “metavers”, the “mining” of cryptocurrencies, the “cryptoart” or the “harvesting” of data .

To get rid of Anglicisms, the dictionary has also offered a translation of “cloud” representing the “set of computer services that can be accessed remotely via the Internet network”: this is “cloud computing,” a term imported from Canada.

Nevertheless, there are “always many Anglicisms”, which justify Robert’s editions with the fact that “our language borrows”, which is “a natural process”. “We can regret that today it is mainly English,” adds Géraldine Moinard, however.

“Crush”, “Floppy” or “Ghoster”

The committee that meets to decide whether or not to include new words has been monitoring the new words appearing in the vocabulary for the past year. The members examine the frequency of use of the word, its diffusion – particularly in the media, speech, literature, social networks – then its permanence.

Words of youth are also honored, such as the “floppy disk”, that outdated technique that now designates a “sentence, flattering formula, often ponderous, intended to seduce someone”.

The anglicisms “crush” (to have a crush on someone) or “ghost” (to delete from social networks and ignore) also appear on paper after many years of use by young people.

New proper names have also appeared in the Robert Illustré, out May 17th. These included the regulator for audiovisual and digital media, Arcom, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and Charles III. At the same time, not a word disappears.

Le Larousse also presented its 150 new words on Tuesday, including “boboïser”, “PLS”, “covidé” and “Instagrammable”.