New Oxford American Dictionary's 2009 Word of the Year

The New Oxford American Dictionary\'s 2009 Word of the Year can trace its origins back to the 17th century. The word: unfriend.

Christine Lindberg, senior lexicographer at Oxford University Press, says the Oxford English Dictionary provides a citation for unfriend from 1659.

Lindberg says the essence of the meaning has not changed much since the word was first cited.

I think it\'s a remarkable resurrection, she tells NPR\'s Melissa Block. In a way, I look at \'unfriend\' as the Sleeping Beauty of 2009 words.

For the uninitiated, to unfriend is the act of removing someone who was previously your friend on a social media network, especially Facebook.

Unfriend beat out sexting (sending sexually explicit text/pictures over the cell phone), birther (a conspiracy theorist who challenges President Obama\'s U.S. birth certificate) and tramp stamp (tattoo on lower back, usually on a woman).

Past words of the year include 2008\'s hypermiling (driving to maximize fuel economy), 2007\'s locavore (one who tries to eat locally grown food), carbon neutral (2006) and podcast (2005).

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