- Full List Revealed: Nigerian Words Including Amala, Biko, Abeg, Nyash Make It to OED
- Other notable additions include Ghana Must Go, biko, Mammy Marke, nyash
- This expansion builds on a 2025 update that added 20 Nigerian words
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has expanded its entries to include over 500 new African words, phrases, and senses in its latest update, published in December 2025 and rolled into 2026. The quarterly update also includes revisions to more than 1,000 existing entries.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the update reflects the growing influence of African languages on global English, with a focus on Nigerian and West African vocabulary related to food, music, everyday speech, markets, and pop culture.
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Among the new entries are abeg, a versatile interjection expressing surprise or exasperation, and amala, a Nigerian dish made from yam, cassava, or unripe plantain flour.
The update also formally recognizes Afrobeats, defined as a style of popular music blending West African sounds with jazz, soul, and funk.
Other notable additions include Ghana Must Go, biko, Mammy Market, nyash, Moi Moi, and words such as abrokyire, Adowa, ampesi, benachin, bichir, domoda, dumboy, hiplife, kpanlogo, light soup, nawetan, obroni, poda-poda, and yassa.
The OED has also enhanced its pronunciation features, introducing multiple audio files for several West African English entries and a new model for Maltese English pronunciations. Catherine Sangster, the OED’s Head of Pronunciations, highlighted that this update marks a decade since the dictionary first introduced spoken pronunciations in 2015.
This expansion builds on a 2025 update that added 20 Nigerian words, including popular terms such as japa, agbero, eba, 419, abi, area boy, yahoo boy, Naija, suya, kobo, Edo, Kanuri, jand, and cross-carpet. Some entries appeared as both nouns and verbs, with pronunciation guides included to help users unfamiliar with the words.
The inclusion of these words reflects the OED’s commitment to documenting the dynamic evolution of English worldwide and recognizing the cultural and linguistic contributions of African communities.
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