Name of late Brazilian legend Pelé added to Michaelis dictionary

The Michaelis dictionary introduced the late legend and sparked a campaign for celebration.

The late football legend's moniker, Pelé, is now formally associated with the words "exceptional, incomparable, and unique."

One of the most widely used dictionaries in Brazil Portuguese, Michaelis, has introduced "Pelé" as a new term to its online version.

The inclusion followed the collection of more than 125,000 signatures in support of a campaign by the Pelé Organisation to celebrate the football legend.

At age 82, Pelé passed away in December.

Pelé is regarded as the greatest footballer in history since he is the only player to have lifted the FIFA World Cup three times.

He amassed a record 1,281 goals in his two-decade professional stint with the New York Cosmos, Brazil's national squad, and Brazilian club Santos.

The Pelé Foundation, his former club Santos, sports network SporTV, and others have pushed for the football legend's name to be honoured with its own article in the dictionary ever since he passed away from symptoms of cancer of the intestines.

The phrase will be encompassed to the printed copy of Michaelis Dictionaries' Portuguese-language dictionary once the next edition is released, according to a statement made by the company's publishers on Wednesday.

The entry reads: "pe.lé adj. That or someone who is out of the ordinary, who or who by virtue of their quality, value or superiority cannot be equalled to anything or anyone, just like Pelé, the nickname of Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022), who is considered the greatest athlete of all time; exceptional, incomparable, unique."

It was a blending tribute, according to The Pelé Foundation, a nonprofit organisation established to uphold the player's legacy.

"The expression already used to refer to someone who is the best at what they do has been [made eternal] on the pages of the dictionary!"