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The verb google means "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet." For example, "Mary googled for Wikipedia references." Compare with grep. This new word arose from the tremendous popularity of the Google search engine. The American Dialect Society chose the verb google as the "most useful word of 2002." In July, 2006, the verb 'google' was officially added to the 11th edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary,Harris, Scott D. "Dictionary adds verb: to google." San Jose Mercury News. July 7, 2006. Retrieved on July 7, 2006. as well as to the Oxford English Dictionary.Bylund, Anders. "To Google or Not to Google." The Motley Fool via MSNBC. July 5, 2006. Retrieved on July 7, 2006.

Overview

Use of the word could be used in the context of, "googling" a boyfriend/girlfriend, or to say that some brand or concept, "does (or doesn't) google," which indicates whether or not useful information can be found on it using a quick Internet search (commonly with the Google engine). For instance, a person named David Jones, or a computer program named "Click", doesn't google, since using either as a query would return hundreds of links unrelated to the individual or program in question. Similarly, really obscure things don't google because they return no hits. Both search engines and companies try to ensure that the most relevant results are returned first; thus, virtually every well-known company googles.

The word google is derived from a misspelling of the word "googol," which refers to 10100(a 1 followed by one-hundred zeros).Koller, David. "Origin of the name, "Google." Stanford University. January, 2004. Retrieved on July 7, 2006.Hanley, Rachael. "From Googol to Google: Co-founder returns." The Stanford Daily. February 12, 2003. Retrieved on July 14, 2006.

Google has traditionally discouraged use of the word as a verb, fearing the dilution and potential loss of its trademark, like Yo-Yo, Xerox and escalator (see genericized trademark). The company sent a cease and desist letter to Paul McFedries, creator of Word Spy, a website that tracks neologisms.Duffy, Jonathan. "Google calls in the 'language police'." BBC News. June 20, 2003. Retrieved on July 7, 2006. To avoid dilution of Google's trademark, lexicographers for the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary have lowercased the actual entry for the word, google, while maintaining the capitalization of the search engine in their definition, "to use the Google search engine," to seek online information.Noon, Chris. "Brin, Page See 'Google' Take Its Place In Dictionary." Forbes. July 6, 2006. Retrieved on July 7, 2006.

"To google" in other languages

English is not the only language with a verb for Google. Other languages have formed their own verbs:

See also

References

Google | Internet terminology

Googlar

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Google (verb)".

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