The highly-acclaimed Oxford English Dictionary (OED) - which is the accepted authority of the English language - has recently added an official second definition for the word `tweet' as related to the popular microblogging service Twitter.

While thus far there was only one official definition for the word `tweet' which just meant `the chirp of a bird;' the addition of the new definition now has `tweet' defined as follows: "To make a posting on the social networking service Twitter. Also: to use Twitter regularly or habitually."

The addition of the new `tweet' definition in the OED was announced in a June update to the dictionary; and the move implies that the word `tweet' - in social-networking lingo - has now officially become a part of the English language.

Strangely, the word `retweet' - which means the act of reposting a message posted by another Twitter user - was added to the OED back in 2011. Though the move to add `tweet' a couple of years of adding `retweet' seems quite odd, the OED editors have not given any explanation as to why `retweet' was added first.

Nonetheless, noting that "the noun and verb tweet (in the social-networking sense) has just been added to the OED," the dictionary's chief editor John Simpson said: "This breaks at least one OED rule, namely that a new word needs to be current for ten years before consideration for inclusion. But it seems to be catching on."