Milan, Aug. 18 (LaPresse) – Femicide is the most searched word on the treccani.it portal since the beginning of 2026, ahead of maranza and fake news, which rank second and third respectively. They are followed by overtourism, influencer, smart working, follower, rider, meme and selfie. These are, Treccani notes, words that until recently were new, but have now entered dictionaries and become commonplace in everyday language, news organizations and current events, to the point of becoming part of common usage and searches on the Treccani portal. This is the case with femicide, “whose spread responds to the dramatic need to precisely name the ‘killing of a woman by a man, often her husband or partner, within a culture in which women are often oppressed and subjected to violence because of their gender,’” Treccani explains. “Recorded among neologisms and subsequently entered into the Treccani dictionary, it was chosen by the Institute as its word of the year in 2023 precisely because of its sociocultural relevance,” Treccani explains. The case of ‘maranza’ is particular, a “neologism that in the 1980s and 1990s referred to a ‘person, mostly from urban suburbs, not necessarily young, uncouth, crude, who seeks to show off,’ and subsequently broadened its meaning to now refer to a ‘young person who is part of rowdy, overbearing street groups, recognizable by flashy clothing and vulgar language and behavior,’ thus earning its place in the dictionary.”
Treccani: the most searched word on the portal in 2026 is “femicide”
Milan, Aug. 18 (LaPresse) – Femicide is the most searched word on the treccani.it portal since the beginning of 2026, ahead of maranza and fake news, which rank second and third respectively. They are followed by overtourism, influencer, smart working, follower, rider, meme and selfie. These are, Treccani notes, words that until recently were new, but have now entered dictionaries and become commonplace in everyday language, news organizations and current events, to the point of becoming part of common usage and searches on the Treccani portal. This is the case with femicide, “whose spread responds to the dramatic need to precisely name the ‘killing of a woman by a man, often her husband or partner, within a culture in which women are often oppressed and subjected to violence because of their gender,'” Treccani explains. “Recorded among neologisms and subsequently entered into the Treccani dictionary, it was chosen by the Institute as its word of the year in 2023 precisely because of its sociocultural relevance,” Treccani explains. The case of ‘maranza’ is particular, a “neologism that in the 1980s and 1990s referred to a ‘person, mostly from urban suburbs, not necessarily young, uncouth, crude, who seeks to show off,’ and subsequently broadened its meaning to now refer to a ‘young person who is part of rowdy, overbearing street groups, recognizable by flashy clothing and vulgar language and behavior,’ thus earning its place in the dictionary.”