According to the English-language dictionary’s list of most-searched this year, the word for “a servile dependent, follower, or underling” was one of the most searched online, of the year. But what really wracked our brains was not one word at all, but a kind of word, illustrated by Merrian-Webster’s unusual choice for its annual “Word of the Year”: ism. Deadly attacks in Paris, Beirut, and San Bernardino, and elsewhere spurred us to seek to answers for ”terrorism.” And in a momentous year for LGBT civil rights in the United States, “marriage” and “respect” also trended.
– First Oxford Dictionaries went with an emoji. Now Merriam-Webster has named its "word of the year," and it isn't a word at all. "Ism" was given the honor after words like socialism, fascism, racism, feminism, communism, capitalism, and terrorism saw high traffic on the dictionary's website in 2015. Searches for "fascism" in particular followed the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video and Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims. "We had a lot on our minds this year," an editor tells the AP. "It's a serious year. These are words of ideas and practices. We're educating ourselves." A less-serious term commonly searched, per Quartz: minions. The AP pinpoints when the other various -ism words were most searched in 2015; more here.