Definition of Portmanteau word

1. Noun. A new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings. "`brunch' is a well-known portmanteau"

Exact synonyms: Blend, 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

portlasts
portless
portlet
portlets
portlier
portliest
portlike
portliness
portlinesses
portly
portman
portmanteau
portmanteau-word
portmanteau film
portmanteau films
portmanteau word (current term)
portmanteau words
portmanteaus
portmanteaux
portmantle
portmantles
portmantua
portmantuas
portmen
portmote
portmotes
portobello
portobellos
portogram
portography

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 ..."

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