Brazil legend Pele has been added to the dictionary in Portugal for describing someone ‘out of the ordinary’

• The campaign has garnered 125,000 signatures honoring Pelé’s influence beyond football
• Under the new entry, the word is defined as “exceptional, incomparable, unique.”
• The three-time World Cup winner died of colon cancer at the age of 82 in December

The word ‘Pele’ was added to the dictionary in Portugal on Wednesday as an adjective to describe someone as ‘out of the ordinary’.

The Michaelis Dictionary ad was part of a campaign that has amassed more than 125,000 signatures honoring his influence outside of football.

For the world’s 265 million Portuguese speakers, “pele” can now be used to refer to an unusual thing or person that was already used informally in Brazil.

Under the new entry, the word is defined as “exceptional, incomparable, unique” adjectives, associated with the “king” of football.

The three-time World Cup winner died in December at the age of 82 after battling colon cancer.

The dictionary entry says: “An extraordinary person, or who because of his quality, value or superiority cannot be matched by anything or anyone, just like Pele; the epithet of Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022), considered the greatest athlete of all time; exceptional , incomparable, unique.

“Examples: It’s a basketball pele, it’s a tennis pele, it’s a Brazilian theatre’s pele, and it’s a medicine pele.”

For now, the word is only included in Michaelis’ online version, though it will be added to print dictionaries in the future.

Pele’s foundation, Santos FC – where he played most of his career – and many Brazilians celebrated the decision of the publishers of one of the most famous dictionaries in the country.

Pele’s social media channels said after the announcement: “An expression that has already been used to denote the best in something is already eternal in the pages of the dictionary.”

Together we made history and put the King of Football in the Portuguese language. Pele means “the best”.

“The Pele Dictionary Campaign is one of the most authentic campaigns we have ever been involved with,” said Joe Fraga, Executive Director of the Pele Foundation.

“His name in the dictionary is a very important part of his legacy that will keep Pele alive forever.”

Pele scored a world record 1,281 goals during more than two decades playing for Santos (1956-1974), the Brazilian national team and New York Cosmos (1975-1977).