Who had the final say in making a word a word?

Answer 1

Here in America, it is the people who compile Webster's unabridged dictionary. I read somewhere that a word has to be in use for a certain number of years before it is included. Even then, it has to pass certain standards.

Answer 2

Pretty much anyone who makes any dictionary in the langauge that the word is in. But also is the word is just used alot in the media, like muggle, it can become a word even if its not in the dictionary. This mainly applys to slang terms like "tight" and "cool". By the way, last year "muggle" was added to the Oxford dictionary.

Answer 3

The media. Once a word is in widespread use, the dictionary compilers and (in some countries, literary academies) have no real option but to agree that it has become part of the language and include it in the list.

Answer 4

Linguists.
After a new term comes up (neologism) and go through public scrutiny, language experts determine their suitability. Many are accepted very quickly others are either discarded or put aside during debates.
Linguists may sometimes delay acceptance, by refusing to include the new term in dictionaries and this can sometimes cause the new term to die out over time.
However, if the public continues to use the term, it eventually is accepted and is incorporated in dictionaries.

Isn't it?