Pele, probably the greatest footballer of all time, has become a term synonymous with 'exceptional, outstanding and unique.'
This move comes after the Pelé Foundation, the sports station SporTV, and the Sao Paulo football club Santos gathered more than 125,000 signatures in support of the football legend.
"Pele" can now be used to refer to anything or someone extraordinary for the 265 million or more Portuguese speakers around the world, as it is currently used colloquially in Brazil.
“The expression already used to refer to someone who is the best at what they do has been eternalized on the pages of the dictionary!” According to the Pele Foundation on Instagram.
The word is described in the new entry as "exceptional, incomparable, and unique" – characteristics connected to "The King" of football, who passed away in December at the age of 82.
The Michaelis online version also offers these helpful examples: He is the basketball pele... She is the pele of Brazilian drama."
The word is currently only present in the Michaelis online edition, but it will eventually be added to printed dictionaries as well.
For more than two decades, Pele amassed a record-breaking 1,281 goals while playing for Santos (1956–1974), the Brazilian national team, and the New York Cosmos (1975–1977).
