Pelé's name added to dictionary to signify 'unique'

Pelé, the late football legend, has been officially associated with the adjectives "exceptional, incomparable, unique". 

The Michaelis dictionary, a popular Portuguese-language dictionary in Brazil, has recently added the term "Pelé" as a new adjective to its online edition. The Pelé Foundation launched a campaign to honour the football star, which successfully collected over 125,000 signatures, leading to the inclusion of the word in the dictionary. 

Pelé, who passed away at the age of 82 in December, is widely considered to be the greatest footballer in history, having won the World Cup three times — a feat unmatched by any other player.

During his career spanning two decades, he scored a record 1,281 goals for Brazilian club Santos, Brazil's national team, and the New York Cosmos. Following his death from complications related to colon cancer, Santos, sports channel SporTV, and the Pelé Foundation had been advocating for the recognition of Pelé's name with its own entry in the dictionary.

The publishers behind the Michaelis dictionaries announced the inclusion of the word in the digital edition of their Portuguese-language dictionary immediately and in the printed version in the next edition.

The entry describes "Pelé" as an adjective referring to someone or something out of the ordinary, exceptional, incomparable, and unique, much like the football legend.

The Pelé Foundation considers this a fitting tribute to "the king" and noted that the expression already used to describe someone who is the best at what they do has been given an eternal place in the pages of the dictionary.