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The non-binary pronoun “they” was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary on Tuesday. The new dictionary entry, listed as the fourth definition of the word “they,” says the word is “used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is non-binary.” The dictionary used this example of the word in a sentence: “I knew certain things about... the person I was interviewing... They had adopted their gender-neutral name a few years ago, when they began to consciously identify as nonbinary—that is, neither male nor female. They were in their late 20s, working as an event planner, applying to graduate school.”
Survey data indicated that 35 percent of those born after 1996 said they personally know someone who uses non-binary pronouns like “they,” compared to only 25 percent of millennials. The pronoun is just one of the 533 words added to the dictionary this month—including “colorism,” “inclusive,” and “deep state.”