The economist has chosen its word of the year, but one term can never sum up everything that happened over 366 days around the world. A wider view can be found in the Word of the Week. These are chosen, one per weekend, by the editors of the World in Brief.

Over the course of a year, these offer a meander through our editors’ minds. Now we’re assembling them into a collection. The words fall into a small number of buckets. Part of our intent is to introduce new words to our readers, so most are scientific (triple E, mpox, aedes aegypti, galactorrhea, atmospheric rivers), technical (chiplets, metamaterials, digital twin, prompt engineering) or foreign (Abitur, actas, agunot…). Our word-gatherers took a special interest in Chinese terms (gaokao, sulian dage, runxue, zhengbao, jiu ge yi), reflecting both China’s importance and how few Chinese terms are in wider parlance in English. (Consider the vast number of familiar terms from French or German for a quick comparison.) To understand China it must help to have some familiarity with its language; few English-speakers do.

Just a few of the choices are slang. Some are truly new (kidulting); others are new in their modern meanings (brat, demure). These might be the words that most shout out that they belong to 2024. That is also because, as we wrote recently, social media seems to have sped up the rise and fall of slang words. These, too, are unlikely to last long. Will people still be saying “brat” to mean something other than a spoiled child in 2034? Don’t bet on it.

December

Russionia, a mystical land in “The Plot Against the King”, a picture book by Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s candidate to run the fbi. November

Securonomics, a buzzword coined by Britain’s chancellor, Rachel Reeves. It has not appeared in her speeches since she entered office.

Taita, a reverent term meaning “Father”, which embodies the protective presence of Mount Chimborazo, Ecuador’s highest peak.

Galapagos syndrome, a term used to describe how many of the goods developed and sold in Japan do not get exported.

doge, previously a meme. Now Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency”, a new advisory body tasked with cutting red tape and wasteful spending in America.

Kakistocracy, a word that may be useful over the next four years.

October

Kokpar, one of the oldest nomadic games in Kazakhstan. It involves men on horseback fighting over a goat carcass.

Aotearoa, the Maori word for New Zealand, and the name of one of just a handful of ships in the country’s navy.

Demure, once a term for Victorian modesty, it is now used by youngsters on TikTok to describe everything from sunsets to Saturn.

Metamaterials, a class of materials engineered to have surprising effects not commonly found in nature. September

R-star, the term that economists use to describe the “neutral real rate” of interest, which applies when the economy is growing at its exact potential.

Chiplets, the smaller blocks into which a silicon chip can be broken down in order to create a more compact layout. .

Triple E, a rare but often deadly illness carried by mosquitoes.

Digital twin, a virtual representation of something, capable of modelling its behaviour in real time.

Ilish, a bony freshwater fish, which is not just a staple of Bangladeshis’ diet but an integral part of their identity.

August

Kidulting, experiences that let adults act like children.

Siesta, an afternoon nap or rest period. It is still a serious business in Europe’s south.

Actas, a Spanish word that refers to the voting receipts which Venezuela’s opposition says show that it won last week’s election.

Kudzu, an invasive species of climbing vine.

July

Hengst, an Old Germanic word for “stallion”.

RuWiki, the Kremlin’s project to rewrite Wikipedia.

Brat, the title of Charli xcx’s new album, which has spawned countless memes of Kamala Harris.

Umrah, a Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia that takes place all year round.

June

Mpox, a viral infection formerly known as monkeypox, has a newly discovered strain that is raising alarm.

Cohabitation, a French word that describes a political situation in the country where the president represents a different party to that which commands a majority in parliament.

Ras-le-bol, the French word for being fed-up. .

Gaokao, China’s punishingly difficult university-entrance exam. 

Magicicada, the Latin word for periodical cicadas. Two broods are emerging simultaneously in America for the first time since 1803.

May

Sulian dage, a Chinese phrase once used to describe the Soviet Union, meaning “Soviet big brother”.

Malinformation, the spread of verified information with the intent to cause harm or manipulate.

Oshikatsu, a Japanese word that refers to particularly avid support for a celebrity.

Berliner Schnauze, the curt, gruff way that people speak in Germany’s capital.

April

Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species that spreads Dengue fever. The disease is spreading rapidly across Latin America.

Abitur, the name of the German university entrance exam.

Pa, which means “spring onion” in Korean. In the run up to South Korea’s parliamentary election it became a meme to mock the president.

Perpetual stew, an ancient way of cooking that has won Gen Z fans..

March

Le dry January, a phrase that has recently entered France’s national lexicon.

Agunot, the Hebrew term describing Jewish women who are trapped in unwanted marriages. .

Hindutva, a belief in the hegemony of Hinduism in India, which originated in the anti-colonial movements of the 20th century.

Ekori, a traditional headdress worn by Herero women in Namibia.

Runxue, a term used by many young Chinese to convey their desire to flee the country. It means “the art of running”. .

February

Zhengbao, China’s political-security protection unit, housed within the broader police force.

Perfidy, a crime observed under international law, which states that it is illegal to kill or wound “treacherously”.

Galactorrhea, when biological males produce small amounts of milk for reasons unrelated to pregnancy or birth. .

Atmospheric rivers, a storm system that wreaked havoc in California this week.

January

Prompt-engineering, the skill of writing effective prompts for ai.

Sami, an indigenous group of people who inhabit the Scandinavia and Kola Peninsula, and are being divided by Russia’s war.

Jiu ge yi, a piece of Chinese Communist Party jargon which loosely translates as “nine things that must be grasped”.

#diarytok, the tag used on TikTok by “journal influencers”, who read their teenage diaries to audiences online