Esquivalience
Encyclopedia
"Esquivalience" is a fictitious entry
in the New Oxford American Dictionary
(NOAD), which was designed and included to protect copyright of the publication.
The word was invented by Christine Lindberg, one of the editors of the NOAD and discovered by Henry Alford.
It was leaked that the dictionary had put in a fake word in the letter "e" and Alford set out to find the word. It was discovered after review of a short list by several experts. When the editor, Erin McKean
, was contacted she admitted that it was indeed a fake word and had been in since the first edition, in order to protect the copyright of the CD-ROM
edition.
The word is defined as "the willful avoidance of one's official responsibilities."
The fake entry apparently ensnared dictionary.com
, which included an entry for it (that has since been removed) that was attributed to Webster's New Millennium Dictionary, both of which are owned by the private company, Lexico. Possibly due to its licensing of Oxford dictionaries, Google Dictionary
includes the word, listing three meanings and giving usage examples.
Fictitious entry
Fictitious entries, also known as fake entries, Mountweazels, ghost word and nihil articles, are deliberately incorrect entries or articles in reference works such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and directories. Entries in reference works normally originate from a reliable external source,...
in the New Oxford American Dictionary
New Oxford American Dictionary
The New Oxford American Dictionary is a single-volume dictionary of American English compiled by American editors at the Oxford University Press....
(NOAD), which was designed and included to protect copyright of the publication.
The word was invented by Christine Lindberg, one of the editors of the NOAD and discovered by Henry Alford.
It was leaked that the dictionary had put in a fake word in the letter "e" and Alford set out to find the word. It was discovered after review of a short list by several experts. When the editor, Erin McKean
Erin McKean
Erin McKean is an American lexicographer. Erin is a founder and the CEO of the online dictionary Wordnik. She was previously the Principal Editor of The New Oxford American Dictionary, second edition....
, was contacted she admitted that it was indeed a fake word and had been in since the first edition, in order to protect the copyright of the CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
edition.
The word is defined as "the willful avoidance of one's official responsibilities."
The fake entry apparently ensnared dictionary.com
Reference.com
Reference.com is an online encyclopedia, thesaurus, and dictionary. The site also provides machine translation and web search.Reference.com was launched by InReference, Inc in February, 1997. The site was later acquired by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. In 2005, Lexico announced that Reference.com...
, which included an entry for it (that has since been removed) that was attributed to Webster's New Millennium Dictionary, both of which are owned by the private company, Lexico. Possibly due to its licensing of Oxford dictionaries, Google Dictionary
Google Dictionary
Google Dictionary was an online dictionary service of Google, originating in its Google Translate service.The Google Dictionary website was terminated on August 5, 2011 after part of its functionality was integrated into Google Search using the define: operator.It was believed that, until August...
includes the word, listing three meanings and giving usage examples.