The Block: Satoshi, bitcoin's smallest unit, is now added to Oxford English Dictionary

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 quarterly update this month.

The OED defines Satoshi as: “The smallest monetary unit in the Bitcoin digital payment system, equal to one hundred millionth of a bitcoin.”

The announcement follows the December 2014 update 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.”

In the latest quarterly update, the OED has also added the word “cryptocurrency” to its database, defining it in two ways:

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.”

Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) also defines several crypto and blockchain-related words, such as “ cryptocurrency ,” “ bitcoin ,” “ blockchain ” and “ miner ,” among others.

The key difference between the OED and the ODO is that once a word enters the OED, it is "never removed," while for the ODO, it can be removed . The other difference is that while the "ODO focuses on the current language and practical usage, the OED shows how words and meanings have changed over time."