Merriam-Webster, the centuries-old dictionary, announced that it would redefine the word "racism" after receiving an email from a woman in Missouri, claiming that the current definition is inadequate.

Kennedy Mitchum, a 22-year-old graduate of the Drake University in Iowa, wrote in the email that she has been telling people that the definition has fallen short of including the systemic oppression of people of color, and it is not representative of what is actually happening in the world.

"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 ... It's not just disliking someone because of their race. This current fight we are in is evidence of that, lives are at stake because of the systems of oppression that go hand-in-hand with racism," Mitchum wrote in a Facebook post.

Mitchum also shared the reply she received from editor Alex Chambers, who said that the update would be made soon.

"A revision to the entry for racism is now being drafted to be added to the dictionary soon, and we are also planning to revise the entries of other words that are related to racism or have racial connotations," Chambers wrote in the email.

Peter Sokolowski, the editor at large of Merriam-Webster, said in an emailed statement to the Associated Press that the current definition also includes "a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racism and designed to execute its principles" and "a political or social system founded on racism," which could cover the systemic oppression. And he promised that in the next release, they would make its wording clearer.

Mitchum's complaint came following the massive protests across the U.S. and the world, after the death of 46-year-old African American George Floyd in the custody of four Minneapolis police officers.

(Cover image: File photo of Merriam-Webster dictionaries. /AP)