Etymology

nihilartikel

ni·hil·art·i·kel
N1I1H4I1L1A1R1T1I1K5E1L1

Today it means: A deliberately fictitious entry in an encyclopedia or academic work, generally identifiable as false, usually included to brand the intellectual property so copies can be identified. Full definition →

German Nihilartikel
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The story

  1. German · borrowed fromNihilartikel
  2. English todaynihilartikel

Borrowed from German Nihilartikel, apparently coined as a hoax in the German-language Wikipedia in 2003 and later picked up by the English Wikipedia, from where it spread to blogs, books, etc., which are now used again as references for these sites, leading to a form of citogenesis.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.