A Brazilian dictionary has immortalised the name of Pele, the iconic footballer, by adding it as an adjective to describe someone who is ''exceptional, incomparable, unique.'' The announcement was made by the Michaelis dictionary on Wednesday after a campaign by the Pele Foundation to honour the football star attracted more than 125,000 signatures, BBC reported.
The dictionary entry reads, "The one that is extraordinary, or who because of his quality, value or superiority cannot be matched to anything or anyone, just like Pele; nickname of Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022), considered the best athlete of all time; exceptional, incomparable, unique. Examples: He is the Pele of basketball, she is the Pele of tennis, she is the Pele of Brazilian theater, he is the Pele of medicine."
The Pele Foundation, a charitable organisation created to preserve the player's legacy, said it was a fitting tribute to "the king".
''The expression already used to refer to someone who is the best at what they do has been eternalized on the pages of the dictionary. Together we made history and put the name of the King of football in our Portuguese language. Pelé, the meaning of "BEST"!'' the Pele Foundation said on social media.
See the post here:
Pele, a three-time World Cup winner who is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, died in December 2022 at the age of 82. His death after a long battle with cancer was caused by "multiple organ failure," the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo said in a statement.
Born on October 23, 1940, Pele grew up selling peanuts on the street to help his impoverished family. He got his famous nickname after mispronouncing Bile, the name of a goalkeeper at Vasco de Sao Lourenco, where his footballer father once played.
He exploded onto the scene at age 15, when he made his professional debut with Santos. At just 17, he helped Brazil to its first World Cup championship, in 1958. That was followed by World Cup titles in 1962 and 1970. He scored 1,283 goals in a career of 21 years.
His death sparked a global outpouring of tributes, with his native Brazil holding three days of national mourning.
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