Some of Webster's 'new' words aren't neophytes

Merriam-Webster Inc. has added more than 100 new entries to its new edition of the Collegiate Dictionary. Here are some, along with the year in which Merriam-Webster first found them used in an English-language publication:

• Air quotes (1989): gesture made by raising and flexing the index and middle fingers of both hands, used to call attention to a spoken word or expression.

• Dark energy (1998): hypothetical form of energy that produces a force that opposes gravity and is thought to cause the accelerating expansion of the universe.

• Dirty bomb (1956): bomb designed to release radioactive material.

• Dwarf planet (1993): celestial body that orbits the sun and has a spherical shape, but is too small to disturb other objects from its orbit.

• Edamame (1951): immature green soybeans, usually in the pod.

• Fanboy (1919): boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies.

• Infinity pool (1992): outdoor swimming pool with an edge over which water flows into a trough, but seems to flow into the horizon.

• Jukebox musical (1993): musical that features popular songs from the past.

• Kiteboarding (1996): the sport of riding on a small surfboard propelled across water by a large kite, to which the rider is harnessed.

• Malware (1990): software designed to interfere with a computer's normal functioning.

• Mental health day (1971): day that an employee takes off from work to relieve stress or renew vitality.

• Mondegreen (1954): word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung. From the mishearing in a Scottish ballad of "laid him on the green" as "Lady Mondegreen."

• Netroots (2003): grassroots political activists who communicate via the Internet, especially by blogs.

• Norovirus (2002): any of a genus of small round single-stranded RNA viruses; specifically, Norwalk virus.

• Pescatarian (1993): vegetarian whose diet includes fish.

• Phytonutrient (1994): bioactive, plant-derived compound (as resveratrol) associated with positive health effects.