<p>The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), published by the Oxford University Press, has officially added the word “Satoshi” to its database. The decision was made as part of a <a href="https://public.oed.com/blog/new-words-notes-for-october-2019/">quarterly update</a> this month.</p> <p>The OED<a href="https://oed.com/view/Entry/78036595"> defines</a> Satoshi as: “The smallest monetary unit in the Bitcoin digital payment system, equal to one hundred millionth of a bitcoin.”</p> <p>The announcement follows the December 2014 <a href="https://public.oed.com/blog/december-2014-update-new-words-notes/">update</a> that saw “bitcoin” added to the respected resource. It defines bitcoin as “a digital currency in which transactions can be performed without the need for a central bank.”</p> <p>In the latest quarterly update, the OED has also added the word “cryptocurrency” to its database, <a href="https://oed.com/view/Entry/79224404?">defining</a> it in two ways:</p> <p>Firstly as “an informal, substitute currency. rare,” and secondly as “any of various digital payment systems operating independently of a central authority and employing cryptographic techniques to control and verify transactions in a unique unit of account; (also) the units of account of such a system, considered collectively.”</p> <p>Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) also defines several crypto and blockchain-related words, such as “<a href="https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/cryptocurrency">cryptocurrency</a>,” “<a href="https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/bitcoin">bitcoin</a>,” “<a href="https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/blockchain">blockchain</a>” and “<a href="https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/miner">miner</a>,” among others.<br /> <br /> The key difference between the OED and the ODO is that once a word enters the OED, it is <a href="https://languages.oup.com/news-and-press/oxford-dictionaries-faq">"never removed,"</a> while for the ODO, it <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/and-the-word-of-the-year-is">can be removed</a>. The other difference is that while the "ODO <a href="https://www.oed.com/page/oedodo/The+OED+and+Oxford+Dictionaries">focuses</a> on the current language and practical usage, the OED shows how words and meanings have changed over time."</p>