"Embiggen," a word first created by The Simpsons and more recently popularized through Kamala Khan's Ms. Marvel, has officially been added to Dictionary.com. It's fascinating to see how words created in fiction - whether in books, comics, TV shows, or movies - work their way into popular culture.
Take the example of "Embiggen," which was originally coined in The Simpsons, where it was first heard in the 1996 episode "Lisa the Iconoclast." The motto of the town of Springfield is "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man," with Lisa's teacher officially declaring it "a perfectly cromulent word." It's seen something of a resurgence in recent years courtesy of Kamala Khan's Ms. Marvel, who uses it to describe her ability to morph parts of her body - particularly her fists - into gigantic forms.
And now "embiggen" has officially been added to Dictionary.com, to the delight of Ms. Marvel co-creator G. Willow Wilson. The site confirmed the news in a tweet that will have entertained any comic book fan. Oddly enough, Dictionary.com is a little behind the times on this one, because the Miriam-Webster Dictionary added "embiggen" back in 2018. They acknowledged the impact of Ms. Marvel at the time, even tweeting a video of Kamala Khan in honor of the popular Marvel superhero.
No doubt they've picked the right moment, though, because – as influential as Ms. Marvel may have been to date – Marvel's first Muslim-American superhero is about to become bigger than ever. Iman Vellani has been cast as the live-action Kamala Khan and is soon to make her small screen debut in a Disney+ TV series set in the MCU. From there, Marvel has already confirmed she will go on to appear in Captain Marvel 2. That means a lot more people are about to find out just how spectacular the word "Embiggen" can be. Oddly, though, Kamala Khan's powers - which look stunning on the printed page - may actually not translate well onto the small screen. G. Willow Wilson herself has admitted Ms. Marvel's powers could look creepy in live-action, pointing out they weren't designed to be cinematic. Frankly, if Marvel gets this wrong, they could look more like body-horror.
Amusingly, Wilson has previously admitted she didn't get the Simpsons reference when she began using the word "Embiggen." In fact, she thought this was a computer term she'd encountered in relation to image manipulation, specifically the "embiggening" of JPEGS. But in choosing to use this word, G. Willow Wilson helped cement Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan's place in popular culture, and now it seems she's even helped popularize the term so it is no longer niche.