Cambridge Dictionary reveals its word of the year for 2021

The word has been looked up on the Cambridge Dictionary website more than 243,000 times globally during 2021

Nasa’s Perseverance rover firing up its descent stage engines as it nears the Martian surface (Nasa)

The Cambridge Dictionary has revealed its word of the year for 2021 as “perseverance”, with editors crediting global interest in Nasa’s mission to Mars.

Look-ups for the word spiked after the Perseverance Rover made its final descent to the red planet on February 18, with 30,487 searches for “perseverance” between February 19 and February 25 this year.