In September of 1997, Merriam-Webster Online was still in its infancy, having been launched only a year earlier in June 1996. Our community of users was growing quickly, and the site was earning praise from both technology and reference experts alike.

One of the most interesting aspects of the new service was something invisible to the public. Using our online analytics, we could identify which words were being looked up and how often. The significance of this was not lost on us: for years dictionary makers have had methods for deciding which words are most commonly used, but now, for the first time, we could see which words are most commonly looked up.

At first, this was mostly of theoretical interest, but in the early days of September 1997, this aspect of the Web site took on a new and surprising quality. As people came to learn more about the circumstances surrounding Diana's car crash, and as they watched the funeral preparations and the ceremony itself, words associated with the event began to show up in the log files. First paparazzi appeared (along with its several misspellings), then princess, and then cortege. For the first time, we saw words that people actually look up in response to a news event, as it was happening.

Since then, there have been many events which offered a new perspective on language and the news — the Columbine tragedy, the Clinton scandals, the turning of the new millennium, the 2000 election, September 11, and Hurricane Katrina all sparked interest in a wide range of words that were richly appropriate to each event. But September 1997 was the first time Merriam-Webster experienced this phenomenon, so this ten-year anniversary holds a peculiar but important significance for us.

Looking Back segments usually focus on words first used in a particular year. We don't want to disappoint, so here are three from 1997: dot-commer, phishing, and Weblog. Remember, for a full list of all the words first recorded in any year, select the Collegiate as your reference, click on Advanced Search, type the year into the Date field, and click on Search.