portmanteau
/pɔːtˈmæn.təʊ/
portmanteau means made by combining two (or more) words, stories, etc., in the manner of a linguistic portmanteau.
portmanteau is pronounced /pɔːtˈmæn.təʊ/.
Why “portmanteau” is a great word
A word formed by blending the sounds and meanings of two or more other words, from Middle French portemanteau ('traveling bag'), from porter ('to carry') + manteau ('cloak, mantle'); the linguistic sense was metaphorically applied by Lewis Carroll in 1871. Unlike a compound, which joins whole words like 'notebook,' or an acronym, which extracts initials like 'NASA,' a portmanteau is a true fusion—a lexical alchemy. It is the smoky haze of 'smog' where pollution and weather conjoin; it is the lazy grace of 'brunch' that dissolves the boundary between morning meals; it is the shimmering, impossible creature born from a 'lion' and a 'tiger.' Each carries its parents visibly yet lives as something new, the linguistic equivalent of a well-worn coat, perpetually lightening language's load by collapsing two suitcases into one.
adj
- Made by combining two (or more) words, stories, etc., in the manner of a linguistic portmanteau.“The overall narrator of this portmanteau story - for Dickens co-wrote it with five collaborators on his weekly periodical, All the Year Round - expresses deep, rational scepticism about the whole business of haunting.”
noun
- A large travelling case usually made of leather, and opening into two equal sections.“A Rover tooke him unprepared, / Search't his Port-mantua, bound him faſter, / And ſent him naked to his Maſter: […]”
- A word formed by putting two words together and thereby their meaning.“Well, ‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy.’ ‘Lithe’ is the same as ‘active.’ You see it’s like a portmanteau⸺there are two meanings packed up into one word.”
- A portmanteau film.“We're so bombarded with images, it's a struggle to preserve our imaginations.' In response, he's turned to cinema, commissioning 11 film-makers to contribute to a portmanteau film, entitled '11'09"01' and composed of short films each running 11 minutes, nine seconds and one frame.”
- A schoolbag.
- A hook on which to hang clothing.“But before I started that long and rather far-fetched and not frightfully original digression, what I meant to say quite simply was that there are no portmanteaux to be examined here because the clientele of this café, ladies and gentlemen, does not sit down.”
verb
- To create a portmanteau word.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- malaphor 82% match — An idiom blend: an error in which two similar figures of speech are merged, producing an often nonsensical result. vs portmanteau →
- calque 81% match — A word or phrase in a language formed by word-for-word or morpheme-by-morpheme translation of a word in another language. vs portmanteau →
- anacronym 81% match — An acronym that is usually no longer thought of as such, but instead treated as a regular word and styled in lower case despite its etymological origin. vs portmanteau →
- retronymy 81% match — The process of creating retronyms; coining new words for existing concepts because the meaning of the original word has broadened. vs portmanteau →
- neologism 80% match — A word or phrase which has recently been coined; a new word or phrase. vs portmanteau →
- anachronym 80% match — A word, phrase, or term that has become outdated or technically inaccurate because it refers to a technology or practice from a previous time, yet it remains in common usage. vs portmanteau →
- phantonym 80% match — A word that appears to mean one thing but actually means something else. Such terms are predisposed toward catachrestic use (including malapropisms) by speakers and writers. vs portmanteau →
- amalgamation 80% match — The process of amalgamating; a mixture, merger or consolidation. vs portmanteau →