portmanteau word
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portmanteau word
Where it comes from
First used by Lewis Carroll in 1871, based on the concept of two words packed together, like a portmanteau (“a travelling case having two halves joined by a hinge”).
noun portmanteau words
-
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.
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.
Similar: portmanteau, blend, blend word, lexical blend, amalgamation, brunch word, frankenword, portmantologism, telescope word
Translations
Every language
noun word which combines the meaning of two words
| Español | compuesto acronímico, contracción, acrónimo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 혼성어 honseong'eo |
| 日本語 | 鞄語 kabango, 混成語 konseigo |
| 中文 | 混成詞 /混成词 hùnchéngcí |
| Português | palavra-valise, amálgama, siglonimização, cruzamento |
| Français | mot-valise, amalgame |
| Deutsch | Kofferwort, Portmanteau, Portmanteau-Wort, Schachtelwort, Kontamination, Verschmelzung |
| Italiano | parola macedonia |
| Ελληνικά | σύμμειγμα sýmmeigma |
| Română | cuvânt telescopat, cuvânt telescopizat, cuvânt-valiză |
| Русский | словослия́ние slovoslijánije, словостяже́ние slovostjažénije, сло́во-бума́жник slóvo-bumážnik, контамина́ция kontaminácija |
| Tiếng Việt | từ kết hợp |
| العربية | لَفْظٌ مَنْحُوت lafẓun manḥūt, مَزَاج mazāj |
| עברית | הֶלְחֵם בְּסִיסִים helkhém bsisím |
Talk about this word "portmanteau word." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/portmanteau%20word. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. portmanteau word. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/portmanteau%20word "portmanteau word." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/portmanteau%20word.Cite this
@misc{portmanteau_word_2026,
title = {portmanteau word},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/portmanteau%20word},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
