'They' Named Merriam-Webster’s br Word of the Year.br According to Merriam-Webster, br searches for the word have risen br 313 in the past year.br The American English dictionary br added the nonbinary pronoun to br the term’s three other definitions br in September.br Over the past year or so, as people have increasingly encountered the nonbinary use, we've seen searches for 'they' grow dramatically. , Merriam-Webster Senior Editor Emily Brewster.br The dictionary also revealed it had br evidence of the word’s usage br as a nonbinary pronoun dating br back as early as the 1950s.br Other highly searched terms in 2019 br include "quid pro quo," "impeach," br "crawdad" and "egregious.