Michal Kazimierczak
6 min 
The global coronavirus crisis, which has shaken the world since the end of 2019 and throughout several years, has not only changed our routines, customs, and ways of relating to one another, but has also left a deep mark on our language. The Spanish language, alive and in constant evolution, reflects the social, political, and economic impact of this pandemic in its words.
Words related to Covid-19 and the health crisis have become central to daily life, occupying a prominent place in dictionary searches, news headlines, and our everyday conversations. Words like pandemia (pandemic), epidemia (epidemic), cuarentena (quarantine), confinamiento (lockdown), hipocondría (hypochondria), asintomático (asymptomatic), and, of course, coronavirus have entered general vocabulary with unusual force. The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) has recognized this reality, choosing “confinamiento” as the word of the year, a clear symbol of the linguistic and social impact of this crisis.
Although the term coronavirus was not initially included in the latest edition of the Dictionary of the Spanish Language (DLE), it has already been proposed for inclusion due to its massive and widespread use. It is a scientific term that comes from Latin and describes a family of viruses with a characteristic external shape resembling a solar corona, hence its name.
It is important to clarify how to write and use this word: coronavirus is always written as one word and with a lowercase initial when referring to the common name of the virus or, by extension, the disease caused by this virus. For example: “Coronaviruses are responsible for diseases that affect both animals and humans.”
El COVID-19 or La COVID-19? An Interesting Linguistic Debate
Perhaps one of the most discussed debates regarding language and the pandemic has been the gender to assign to the acronym COVID-19, the official name of the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Both options, el COVID-19 and la COVID-19, are correct and accepted. The reason many people use the masculine el COVID-19 has to do with the gender of related words, such as coronavirus or the names of other viral diseases that adopt the gender of the virus, like el zika or el ébola. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) and many official media outlets use la COVID-19, arguing that the core word of the acronym is enfermedad (disease), which is feminine in Spanish. This feminine usage is equally valid and linguistically justified.
Uppercase and Lowercase: How to Write COVID-19
Since COVID-19 is a relatively new acronym, it is not yet fully lexicalized. Therefore, the correct and recommended form is to write it in uppercase and with a hyphen to separate the numerical part: COVID-19. However, if this word becomes a common term over time beyond its origin as an acronym, it could eventually be written in lowercase, as happens with many words that come from acronyms (for example, láser or radar).
The Pronunciation of the Acronym COVID
There is no strict rule for the prosodic stress of uppercase acronyms, but the most widespread pronunciation in Spanish is [ko-BÍD], with the tonic syllable on the second syllable, following a common pattern for words of similar structure.
In addition to coronavirus and COVID-19, the pandemic has brought a series of terms to the forefront that have been incorporated or have gained relevance in the Spanish language:
- Confinamiento (Lockdown): The period in which the population was obliged to remain at home to prevent the spread of the virus.
- Cuarentena (Quarantine): Preventive isolation of people who might be infected.
- Asintomático (Asymptomatic): An infected person who shows no symptoms but can infect others.
- Teletrabajo (Teleworking): Work-from-home modality, which has become generalized.
- Desescalada (De-escalation): Gradual process of relaxing restrictions.
- Pandemia and Epidemia: Terms that distinguish the scale of the disease outbreak.
- Hipocondría (Hypochondria): Excessive fear of suffering from illnesses, a phenomenon that has increased in some people during the pandemic.
The pandemic has not only added new words, but has also changed the way we use and understand many expressions. For example, everyday terms like mascarilla (mask), distancia social (social distancing), or lavado de manos (hand washing) have become part of our regular vocabulary and have changed their weight and meaning in our conversations. Furthermore, digital language has exploded with new uses: neologisms have been created, hashtags and acronyms related to health, protection, and solidarity have been popularized, and greater value has been given to expressions that were previously uncommon.
Spanish in Times of Pandemic: Between Effervescence and Permanence
It is important to understand that many words that arise in exceptional moments, such as a pandemic, can be ephemeral. Some linguistic trends disappear when the crisis passes, while others remain forever as part of our collective memory. Coronavirus and COVID-19 are, without a doubt, terms that will remain in the dictionary and in history. But many other words linked to this era may become linguistic traces that will serve to remember this difficult time.
The Role of Linguistic Institutions
The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) and other institutions related to the language play a crucial role in documenting and standardizing these transformations. The monitoring, incorporation, and explanation of new terms and uses contribute to the language evolving with coherence and accessibility for everyone. The pandemic has shown that language is not something static or removed from social reality, but a dynamic mirror that reflects the concerns, innovations, and changes of society.
Final Reflection: A Living Language That Accompanies Difficult Times
The pandemic has tested not only health systems and social structures, but also the language’s capacity to adapt and express what we are experiencing. The Spanish language has responded quickly, incorporating new words, adapting meanings, and facilitating communication in times when clear and precise information has been vital. This linguistic phenomenon is also a reminder that language is a common heritage that grows and changes with us. Covid-19 has left us not only a deep health and social mark, but also a linguistic legacy that will continue to be a subject of study, analysis, and reflection.
