“Pelé” now means someone or anything “out of the ordinary” or exceptional.

• “Pele” is now an official word in the Portuguese dictionary, Michaelis
• “Pele” means “that or someone out of the ordinary”
• Pele was the only peroson to have won three world cup titles

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He is the only footballer, male or female, to win the World Cup three times.

This is a feat many can only dream of. Not even the game’s adroit players like the late Maradona or modern-day sensational Lionel Messi can boast of such outrageous feat.

For Lionel Messi, he understands perfectly what it takes to pluck one world cup title from that tall tree.

Well, Pelé made it appear a walk in the park. He had three in his clutches before succumbing to the icy touch of death on December 29, 2022. 

The name of the late Brazilian legend, Pelé, has now been permanently etched in history – it has been added to the Portuguese dictionary called Michaelis.

“Pelé” now means someone or anything “out of the ordinary” or exceptional. 

The Brazilian football legend died at the Sao Paulo hospital after a prolonged tussle with cancer, according to Joe Fraga – his agent, and his family.

As it stands, the world Pelé does not refer to just the moniker of football’s exceptional players but anyone or anything that’s the best among the lot. 

One of Brazil’s most popular dictionary, the Michaelis, added the word “Pelé” to its online edition on Wednesday, 26 April 2023, and defined “Pelé” as an adjective that can be used to describe “someone who is out of the ordinary, who or who by virtue of their quality, value or superiority cannot be equaled to anything or anyone.“

For example, one can say,

“He is the Pelé when it comes to Mathematics”.

“The world of tennis is slowly dying. There aren’t enough Pelé sportsmen nowadays”.

The dictionary will add it to its yet to be printed version.

How did it happen?

In early April 2023, the Pelé foundation and Sportv launched the “Pelé in dictionary” campaign as a way of immortalizing the legacy of football’s most greatest icon in history.

The campaign garnered more than 100,000 signatures catapulting the nickname of arguably football’s greatest player of all time into the Portuguese Michaelis dictionary. 

“Pelé” is now a permanent word in the Portuguese lexicon. It’s only a matter of time that other languages and dictionaries assimilate it into their lexicon.

The entry was unveiled at the Summit Sports event in Pacaembu on Wednesday, 26 April and it read:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pelé Foundation (@pele)

pe.lé

adj m+f sm+f

That or someone who is out of the ordinary, who or who by virtue of their quality, value or superiority cannot be equalled to anything or anyone, just like Pele.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022), considered the greatest 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 dramaturgy, he is the Pele of medicine.

Pele’s family was handed a plaque to officially mark the entry.

“The Pele campaign in the dictionary is one of the most original we have ever participated. His name in the dictionary is a very important piece of his legacy that will keep Pele alive forever,” said Joe Fraga, executive director of the Pele Foundation.

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