A Brazilian dictionary is honoring one of its greatest athletes, Pelé, in a major way after adding the late soccer player’s name as an adjective to use when describing someone who is “exceptional, incomparable, unique.”
The Michaelis dictionary made the heartwarming announcement on Wednesday, April 26, that it was adding “Pelé” to the Portuguese language after successfully obtaining more than 125,000 signatures for a campaign that sought to commemorate the famed athlete and his lifelong impact beyond the sport of soccer.
According to The Associated Press, the dictionary entry defines “Pelé” as someone who is “extraordinary, or who because of their quality, value, or superiority cannot be matched by anything or anyone, just like Pelé, nickname of Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022), considered the best athlete of all time; exceptional, incomparable, unique.”
According to a statement from Pelé’s social media account, the expression was already in use prior to the announcement. The entry also left examples using the newly inducted term, such as “He is the Pelé of basketball” or “She is the Pelé of tennis.”
Throughout the course of his career, the Brazilian native, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, secured three World Cup titles for the South American country while simultaneously setting the record for the youngest player to do so at that. His drive and performance one the field made him synonymous with the sport.
Pelé died on December 29, 2022, at the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in São Paulo after a long battle with colon cancer. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2021. He was 82 years old.
