20 More Nigerian Words Included In Oxford Dictionary

by: Josiah Egbilika

Just like in 2020 when 29 Nigerian words, such as danfo, okada, next tomorrow, and mama put were included in the Oxford Dictionary, another milestone has been achieved in 2025 as The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has added a more collection of Nigerian words to its latest update.

In this latest update, 20 new words were included into the dictionary with majority of them from being lexicons from Nigerian Pidgin.

The words added to the dictionary include:

1. 419

2. abi

3. adire

4. agbero

5. area boy

6. cross-carpet

7. cross-carpeting

8. eba

9. Edo

10. gele

11. jand (noun, verb)

12. janded (adjective)

13. Japa (noun, verb)

14. Kanuri

15. Kobo

16. Naija

17. suya

18. Yahoo

19. Yahoo boy, and

20. Yarn Dust

These additions showcase Nigeria’s cultural diversity, daily life, and street culture while highlighting the rising influence of Nigerian Pidgin across Africa and beyond.

The 20 included words are in addition to at least 57 Nigerian words already in the dictionary. Implying that Nigeria has at least 77 words that can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary in its updated version.

The global dictionary described Nigerian Pidgin as a rich source of new words. It highlighted Nigeria’s unique contribution to global English, with most additions being borrowings or coinages from the 1970s and 1980s.

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