"Selfie" has been declared the "Word of 2013" by Oxford dictionaries beating words like 'twerk' and 'binge-watch' to the title.

"Selfie" is a word that describes the pictures one takes of oneself. Such photos have become immensely popular through social networking sites. The word has now been declared as the "Word of 2013" by Oxford dictionaries after beating words like twerk and binge-watch to the title, reveals a blog post.

According to a BBC News report, the frequency of the word used in the English language increased by 17,000 percent over the past year. Other words shortlisted as contenders for the title include "binge watching" that means excessive television watching, "twerk" - a raunchy dance performed by pop star Miley Cyrus and "Schmeat" - the name given to a form of meat synthetically produced from biological tissue.

"Using the Oxford Dictionaries language research program, which collects around 150 million words of current English in use each month, we can see a phenomenal upward trend in the use of 'selfie' in 2013, and this helped to cement its selection as Word of the Year," Oxford Dictionaries Editorial Director Judy Pearsall said in a press release.

The origin of the word has been traced back to 2002 when an Internet user first used it in an Australian forum. However, over the years, the spelling of the word has undergone some changes including replacing the ending "y" with "ie".

"The use of the diminutive -ie suffix is notable, as it helps to turn an essentially narcissistic enterprise into something rather more endearing," Pearsall said in the statement, explaining the spelling change. "Australian English has something of a penchant for -ie words - barbie for barbecue, firie for firefighter, tinnie for a can of beer - so this helps to support the evidence for 'selfie' having originated in Australia."

Previous words of the year have included "unfriend" in 2009, "credit crunch" in 2008, "carbon footprint" in 2007 and "Sudoku" in 2005. Last year, U.S. Oxford Dictionaries chose the Internet-derived term, 'GIF,' as its Word of the Year while the U.K. Oxford Dictionaries titled the work "omnishambles" as the "Word of 2012."

The results are decided by a team of lexicographers, dictionary consultants, and editorial, marketing, and publicity staff at Oxford Dictionaries. Software and programs are used to initially determine the top contenders by scanning a database of more than 150 million words that are used each month. This helps determine current trends and the frequency of words used.