The name “Pele”, the Brazilian football legend who died last December, is included in the dictionary of common names of the Portuguese language, which contains 167 thousand words, while 265 million people around the world speak Portuguese.

The greatest footballer of all time, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, who died on December 29 at the age of 82, was known by the nickname “Pele”, which is used as a synonym for excellence in Brazil.

In Michaelis’ Dictionary of the Portuguese Language, “Pelé” (with a lowercase B, unlike the initials at the beginning of names written with a capital letter) is synonymous with “exceptional, incomparable, unique”.

As for the definition of the word in the electronic version of the dictionary, it comes as follows: “Something or someone extraordinary, something or someone, in its quality, value or superiority, which cannot be compared with anything or anyone else. Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022) surnamed Pele, And he is considered the greatest sportsman of all time.

Michaelis’ dictionary also gives some examples of the word Pele: “Aur Pele basketball”, “Aur Pele Brazilian drama”, “Aur Pele medicine”.

On the other hand, the digital version of the Brazilian Academy of Literature, which oversees Portuguese in Brazil, home to 215 million speakers of the language, does not include the word “pele”.

Along with this dictionary, the result of a joint campaign launched on April 14 by the Pele Foundation, three-time world champions (1958, 1962 and 1970) Club Santos and the “Sport F” channel Globo Group, the country’s largest media company.

Four months after the Round Ball icon’s death, he still honors the eternal number 10 holder for Santos and the “Celeção” national team, observing a minute’s silence before all Brazilian league matches and South American matches such as the Copa Libertadores. Or the Copa Sudamericana.

Venezuelan Sotildo, the current number 10 at Santos, says in a promotional video: We have already used (Pele) as a compliment to others, it is time to honor him by immortalizing him in the dictionary.

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