NEW YORK — Merriam-Webster has selected its 2021 word of the year: vaccine.

>> Read more trending news

According to The Associated Press, the dictionary publisher said definition lookups for the word, which became ubiquitous during the coronavirus pandemic, increased 601% from 2020.

“In everyday use, words are useful tools that communicate assertions, ideas, aspirations and uncertainties. But they can also become vehicles for ideological conflict,” Merriam-Webster said on its website. “This is what happened to vaccine in 2021. The promising medical solution to the pandemic that upended our lives in 2020 also became a political argument and source of division. The biggest science story of our time quickly became the biggest debate in our country, and the word at the center of both stories is vaccine.”

The company added that it had to “revise and expand” its definition of the word because messenger RNA technology, which was used to develop the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, “triggers an immune response in an entirely new way.” The new definition – which begins, “a preparation that is administered (as by injection) to stimulate the body’s immune response against a specific infectious agent or disease” – includes additional information about mRNA and proteins.

The following words also made Merriam-Webster’s list of the top lookups of the year: insurrection, perseverance, woke, nomad, infrastructure, cicada, Murraya, cisgender, guardian and meta.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More coronavirus pandemic coverage:

>> Coronavirus: How long between exposure to the virus and the start of symptoms?

>> What are your chances of coming into contact with someone who has COVID-19? This tool will tell you

>> How to not let coronavirus pandemic fatigue set in, battle back if it does

©2021 Cox Media Group