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Oxford Dictionaries Adds New Definitions for 'Blockchain' and 'Miner'

OxfordDictionaries.com, the online language resource owned by the Oxford University Press, has added new cryptocurrency-related definitions.

By Stan Higgins
AccessTimeIconAug 27, 2015 at 7:25 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 11, 2021 at 11:50 a.m. UTC
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OxfordDictionaries.com, the online language resource owned by the Oxford University Press, has added new cryptocurrency-related definitions.

The site outlined its latest additions in a new blog post, a list that also included "hangry", "butt-dial", "Redditor", "rage-quit" and "bants", among others.

A "blockchain", according to the site, is a noun defined as:

"A digital ledger in which transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publicly."

The resource added new definitions for terms related to bitcoin mining as well, according to Katherine Connor Martin, head of US dictionaries for the Oxford University Press.

The updated definition for the noun "miner" includes:

"A person who obtains units of a cryptocurrency by running computer processes to solve specific mathematical problems." 

The verb "mine" has a new section as well:

"[To] obtain units of (a cryptocurrency) by running a computer process to solve specific mathematical problems."

The inclusions come roughly two years after the site added "bitcoin" to its list of definitions.

OxfordDictionaries.com is distinct from the Oxford English Dictionary. According to its publisher, whereas the site "focuses on the current language and practical usage", the Oxford English Dictionary is aimed at portraying "how words and meanings have changed over time".

Dictionary image via Shutterstock

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