Today, I came across WP's entry for the word [esquivalience][1]:

> "Esquivalience" is a fictitious entry in the New Oxford American Dictionary (NOAD), which was designed and included to protect copyright of the publication.

> The word was invented by Christine Lindberg, one of the editors of the NOAD and discovered by Henry Alford.

> It was leaked that the dictionary had put in a fake word in the letter "e" and Alford set out to find the word. It was discovered after review of a short list by several experts. When the editor, Erin McKean, was contacted she admitted that it was indeed a fake word and had been in since the first edition, in order to *protect the copyright of the CD-ROM edition*.

> The word is defined as "**the willful avoidance of one's official responsibilities**."

The first edition of the NOAD was published back in 2001 and two more have since seen print. Eleven years later, the word continues to be defined as a legitimate entry on [ODO][2], [Google][3], and going by the WP article, in the print editions. Is it now considered  an authentic word? Or are OUP esquivaliently demonstrating the use of their esquivalience?

  [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esquivalience
  [2]: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/esquivalience
  [3]: http://www.google.com/search?q=definition:esquivalience#hl=en&q=esquivalience&tbs=dfn:1