"Americana" makes Merriam-Webster

The dictionary folks presented about 100 new words today, including Americana to its Collegiate Dictionary. Americana joins Tweet, m-commerce and fist bump as words whose use is now widely recognized enough to be a part of today's lexicon.

According to the dictionary's editors Americana music is defined as: "a genre of American music having roots in early folk and country music."

Americana, as a musical term, has been under consideration longer than the 12 years the Americana Music Association has been in existence.

"I'm thrilled. It's affirmation of what we have been saying for over a decade" said Jed Hilly, Executive Director of the Americana Music Association. "To have an authority like Merriam Webster do the research and determine that our society recognizes the Americana genre is really great."