Brazilian dictionary adds Pele as adjective, synonym of best

SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian dictionary has added “Pelé” as an adjective to make use of when describing somebody who’s “exceptional, incomparable, unique.”

The announcement by the Michaelis dictionary on Wednesday is a part of a marketing campaign that gathered greater than 125,000 signatures to honour the late soccer nice’s influence past his sport.

The three-time World Cup champion died in December at age 82 after a combat in opposition to colon most cancers.

The dictionary entry reads: “The one that is extraordinary, or who because of his quality, value or superiority cannot be matched to anything or anyone, just like Pelé; nickname of Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022), considered the best athlete of all time; exceptional, incomparable, unique. Examples: He is the Pelé of basketball, she is the Pelé of tennis, she is the Pelé of Brazilian theatre, he is the Pelé of medicine.”

The Pelé Foundation, Santos FC — the place he performed most of his profession — and lots of Brazilians celebrated the choice by the publishers of one of many nation’s hottest dictionaries.

“The expression that was already used to refer to the best at something is already eternal in the pages of the dictionary,” Pelé’s social media channels mentioned after the announcement. “We made history together and put the name of the King of Soccer into the Portuguese language. Pelé means ‘THE BEST’.”

Pelé spent almost 20 years enchanting followers and dazzling opponents as the sport’s most prolific scorer with Brazilian membership Santos and the Brazil nationwide staff. In the dialog about soccer’s best, solely the late Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are talked about alongside.