America’s oldest dictionary, Merriam-Webster is also officially adding "they" to its online dictionary as a nonbinary pronoun. This follows in the steps of Associated Press, who recognized it two years ago.

What is "nonbinary," you say? A non-binary person is someone who does not identify as exclusively a man or a woman. Simply, someone who is non-binary may feel like a mix of genders, or like they have no gender at all.

A chart depicting various nonbinary identities.

Supporting its decision, Merriam-Webster,  asserted that "they" as a singular pronoun has been in use since the 1300s, referring to a letter by Emily Dickinson written in 1881, which uses  "they,""theirs," and even "themself" to refer to an individual of unknown gender. 

Merriam-Webster also stated that the usage of "you" as a singular pronoun wasnt always considered to be grammatically correct either; that this use was adopted out of necessity, establishing itself in casual conversation unti its status was formally accepted. 

That being said, Merriam-Webster acknowledges that its new recognition of the usage of "they" does differ much from how it has commonly been used, even in previous centuries. In the past, the singular they has referred to “a person whose gender isn’t known or isn’t important in the context.” For example, you would probably say “Tell each person that they are responsible for cleaning up their own trash,” rather than “Tell each person that he or she is responsible for cleaning up his or her own trash.”

Now, however, we use "they" to describe a person who simply doesn't identify as either male or female.

The new entry for the word "they" it now reads: “used to refer to a single person whose gender identity is nonbinary.”

Just like that, it is now acceptable to use "they" as a singular pronoun in formal writing!

What are your thoughts on this development?