Selfi, a phonetic adaptation of the English "selfie," has been named the Spanish word of the year for 2014.

The Fundación del Español Urgente announced the selection on its website. The word refers to a picture that someone has taken of him- or herself, usually for posting on social media.

"We're not looking for the prettiest word nor the most original or novel," said Joaquín Miller, Fundéu's director general.

"We want our word of the year, in addition to being related to current events, and thus to have been prominent in the media, to have a certain linguistic interest, either in its formation or by the strength of its penetration into popular language."

Interestingly, a year earlier Fundéu had pushed back against the use of using "selfie" as a Spanish word and suggested the use of autofoto and autorretrato, both referring to an image of oneself, as alternatives. It capitulated in October 2013, but urged that the word be spelled as selfi rather than selfie, as remains common. Fundéu designated selfi as being a noun of ambiguous gender, meaning that it could be either masculine or feminine.

Other words that had been considered for word of the year included nomofobia (a fear of not being connected), apli (app), árbitra (female sports referee) and impago (an economic default).

The following is an earlier version of this story:

Selfi — you probably know the word in the English form of "selfie" — is among the finalists for the Spanish Word of the Year for 2014.

Spanish-language media have reported five words that the Fundación del Español Urgente is considering for the honor as a way of providing insight as to what native Spanish speakers have talked about this year. In addition to selfi, which often follows its English spelling, they are:

• abdicar: In June, this word, which means "to abdicate," was the word most looked up in the online version of the Spanish Royal Academy's dictionary. Interest in the word was sparked by the abdication of Spain's King Carlos.
• amigovio: This word, found originally in colloquial Latin American Spanish, is a portmaneau of amigo (friend) and novio (lover or fiance). It can refer to a person who's in a relationship that's something between a friendship and a marriage engagement, or to a friend with benefits.
• ébola: Ebola, a virus and disease that were in the international news during the year. 
• postureo: This is another word from social media, but it isn't copied from an English word. It usually refers to a posed picture that is designed to present a person or group of people in a positive light.