Merriam-Webster has agreed to change the definition of racism in its dictionaries at the urging of a US woman who felt the current definition wasn't up to scratch.
Currently, Merriam-Webster defines racism as "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race".
But recent university graduate Kennedy Mitchum, 22, said she has often found herself in heated arguments about racial inequality where people will pull out a dictionary as "proof" that they are not racist.
"I kept having to tell them that definition is not representative of what is actually happening in the world," she told CNN.
"The way that racism occurs in real life is not just prejudice, it's the systemic racism that is happening for a lot of black Americans."
Ms Mitchum wrote to Merriam-Webster last week and was surprised to hear back the next day from editor Alex Chambers, who agreed to update their definition.
"This revision would not have been made without your persistence in contacting us about this problem," Mr Chambers wrote to Ms Mitchum.
"We sincerely thank you for repeatedly writing in and apologise for the harm and offence we have caused in failing to address this issue sooner."
Merriam-Webster said it is now drafting and updated definition that will go into further detail about racial discrimination and bias in time for the dictionary's next edition.
Recent university graduate Kennedy Mitchum. Source: Facebook
Ms Mitchum said she appreciated Merriam-Webster agreeing to update its definition and hoped it would lead to more production conversations and race and prejudice.
"I was super happy, because I really felt like that was a step in a good direction for a lot of positive change for a lot of different positive conversations that can really help change the world and helps change how people view things," she said.
Merriam-Webster describes itself as "America's leading and most-trusted provider of language information" with more than 40 million website visitors each month.
