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Definition of Portmanteau word
1. Noun. A new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings. "`brunch' is a well-known portmanteau"
Examples of language type: Motel, Brunch, Shopaholic, Workaholic, Smog, Smogginess, Dandle
Generic synonyms: Coinage, Neologism, Neology
Definition of Portmanteau word
1. Noun. (linguistics) A word which combines the meaning of two words (or, rarely, more than two words), formed by combining the words, usually, but not always, by adjoining the first part of one word and the last part of the other, the adjoining parts often having a common vowel; for example, ''smog'', formed from ''smoke'' and ''fog''. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Portmanteau Word
Literary usage of Portmanteau word
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. On Blendings of Synonymous Or Cognate Expressions in English: A Contribution by Gustaf Adolf Bergström (1906)
"25: They admirably illustrate the portmanteau-word »slithy», in the Jabberwocky
poem, explained by the White Queen (?) as a compound of Blithe» and ; slimy/ ..."
2. Geological Magazine by Henry Woodward (1903)
"... the term ' zone' a kind of ' portmanteau word,' one into which several meanings
were to be packed," but his further proposals would only, in my opinion, ..."
3. Catalogue by Syracuse University, St. Louis, Public school library (1913)
"To such people Calvinism "is a portmanteau word for all in Christianity that
makes a demand for positive belief, or is outside the interests of current ..."
Other Resources:
Ido