Dictionary moves with the times

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., July 6 (UPI) -- Mouse potato, spyware, biodiesel and avian influenza are just some of the ways American English reflects a changing world.

The latest update of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary includes about 100 neologisms or words that were not in the previous edition. The print edition will not be available for purchase until the fall but a list of the new words is already available online.

This year is also special for the dictionary because it is the bicentennial of "A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language," published by Noah Webster in 1806.

The number of new words in this year's Collegiate is actually tiny compared to 2003, when the dictionary went electronic, including a CD-ROM and an online site. That year some 10,000 new words went in.

As for meaning, a mouse potato is an online addict; spyware, software that allows spying on computer users, and biodiesel, a diesel-like fuel from vegetable sources. Avian influenza, of course, is bird flu.