Fundéu
| Website | https://www.fundeu.es/ |
| Full Name | FundéuRAE |
| Logo |  |
| Founder | |
| Type | Non-profit |
The FundéuRAE (Fundéu, an acronym in «Fundación del Español Urgente») is a non-profit organization founded in 2005 in Madrid, Spain. The foundation was created in collaboration with the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), an institution that standardizes the use of Spanish, and Agencia EFE's Department of Urgent Spanish.
History
The foundation was created in 2004 in collaboration with the Royal Spanish Academy. Chaired by that institution's then-director, Víctor García de la Concha, it took a new name, Fundéu BBVA, in 2008, before returning to its original name, FundéuRAE, in 2020.
Board of Trustees
As of 2020, its board of trustees comprises the director of the Royal Spanish Academy, Santiago Muñoz Machado (chair); the chairwoman of Agencia EFE, Gabriela Cañas (vice-chair); the director of Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero, and the academicians José María Merino, Soledad Puértolas and Carme Riera, as well as Álex Grijelmo who, when chairman of EFE, set up the original Fundéu.
Word of the Year
The Word of the Year («palabra del año») has been selected since 2013 by the Fundéu in collaboration with the Royal Spanish Academy. Javier Lascurain, Fundéu's subdirector and journalist explained "we are looking for a term that is representative of 2013 from the current point of view, of what has been talked about in the media, and that at the same time has a certain linguistic interest due to its formation, its origin, and its use" and announced a shortlist of twelve words.
| Year | Word of the Year | English translation | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | «escrache» | escrache | In the first months of 2013, «escrache» was popularized in Spanish media due to the actions of «Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca» (Spanish for Platform for People Affected by Mortgages). |
| 2014 | «selfi» | selfie | |
| 2015 | «refugiado» | refugee | The armed conflicts in Middle East countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Eritrea created a great influx of refugees fleeing war and persecution into the Schengen Area; the European Union struggled to cope with the crisis. |
| 2016 | «populismo» | populism | A word heavily used that year due to Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 United States presidential election, Brexit and elections in Spain and Latin America. |
| 2017 | «aporofobia» | aporophobia | First coined in the 1990s by Spanish philosopher Adela Cortina, the Senate of Spain approved a motion calling for the inclusion of aporophobia as an aggravating circumstance in the Criminal Code. |
| 2018 | «microplástico» | microplastics | Half of the twelve shortlisted words in 2018 were terms related to the climate change issue and its widespread before Greta Thunberg's School Strike for Climate. |
| 2019 | «emoji» | emoji | |
| 2020 | «confinamiento» | lockdown | 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to many restrictions in Spain and South America, as in the rest of the world. |
| 2021 | «vacuna» | vaccine | «Inmunidad del rebaño» (herd immunity) and «tripanofobia» (aichmophobia) were also on the shortlist, among other terms related to COVID-19 pandemic as «negacionista» (negationist) or «variante» (variant). Also, «fajana» (fajã) was a word widely used in the media due to the eruption of Cumbre Vieja. |
| 2022 | «inteligencia artificial» | artificial intelligence | |
| 2023 | «polarización» | polarization | 2023 saw an increase in the use of the word with particular reference to political and social polarization. |
| 2024 | «dana» | DANA, cold drop, or cut-off low | Selected primarily because of significant usage in media surrounding the 2024 Spanish floods. Additionally, because of linguistic interest and Spanish speakers’ questions surrounding how to use the term in writing. The word «dana» comes from the acronym DANA for «depresión aislada en niveles altos» (“isolated depression at high levels”) and describes a common Mediterranean weather phenomenon that was responsible for catastrophic flooding in parts of Spain in 2024. |
| 2025 | «arancel» | tariff |
References
- Selection of the word of the year 2013, 29 December 2013, fundeu.es
- 'Escrache', palabra del año para la Fundéu, 30 December 2013, elmundo.es
- 'Selfi', elegida palabra del año 2014 para la Fundéu, 30 December 2014, rtve.es
- "Refugiado", palabra del año 2015 según la Fundéu, 30 December 2015, El País
- ¿Cuál es la palabra del año 2016 según la Fundéu?, BBC News Mundo
- "Aporofobia", elegida palabra del año por la Fundéu BBVA, 29 December 2017, lavanguardia.com
- Microplástico, elegida palabra del año 2018 para la Fundéu, 29 December 2018, 20minutos.es
- Los 'emojis', elegidos como la palabra del año 2019 por la Fundéu BBVA, 29 December 2019, El País
- Confinamiento, la palabra del año para la Fundéu, publico.es
- 'Vacuna' la palabra del año 2021 para la Fundéu, redaccionmedica.com
- es, «polarización», palabra del año 2023 para la FundéuRAE, fundeu.es, 27 December 2023, 25 November 2024
- es, «dana», palabra del año 2024 para la FundéuRA, fundeu.es, 19 December 2024, 9 January 2025
- What caused deadly floods in Spain? The impact of DANA explained, Reuters, 4 November 2024, 9 January 2025, The phenomenon is known locally as DANA, a Spanish acronym for high-altitude isolated depression, and unlike common storms or squalls it can form independently of polar or subtropical jet streams… Before the term DANA was coined in the early 2000s, any heavy rainfall in the autumn, characteristic of the Mediterranean climate, used to go by the popular name ‘gota fria’ (cold drop) in Spain and parts of France. The term is still widely used colloquially… , national weather agency, says the concept of cold drop is outdated and defines DANA as a closed high-altitude depression that has become isolated and separated from an associated jet stream.
- ‘Cold drop’ and flood defences: What caused the devastating flash flooding in Spain?, Independent, 5 November 2024, 9 January 2025, The region is known to be particularly vulnerable to torrential autumn downpours, caused by a weather phenomenon known as the “cold drop” or DANA.
- Cut-off lows, cold drops and DANA, MetsMatters, Royal Meteorological Society, 7 November 2024, 9 January 2025, The torrential downpours of 29 October 2024 were due to an event known locally as a DANA — a high-altitude, low-pressure weather system isolated from the jet stream. This Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos (which translates as an Isolated Depression at High Levels) is also known as a Gota Fría (Cold Drop), but you may be more familiar with the meteorological term ‘cut-off low’…In Spain, the DANA storm system forms when warm moisture-laden winds off the Mediterranean Sea get dragged under the stagnant pool of cold air sitting in the cut-off low higher up in the atmosphere.
- es, Palabra del año 2025, fundeu.es, 20 January 2026
Bibliography
- López Morales, Humberto (2007). Globalizacion del léxico hispánico. Madrid: Espasa Calpe Mexicana, S.A.
- Senz Bueno, Silvia (2011). "Fundéu-BBVA: el largo brazo de la RAE en los medios". Addenda et Corrigenda; from Senz, S., and Alberte, M. (eds.): El dardo en la Academia. Esencia y vigencia de las academias de la lengua española. Barcelona: Melusina, pp. 239-257.
External links
Category:Spanish language
Category:Foundations based in Spain