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Portmanteau
Definitions
- 1 Made by combining two (or more) words, stories, etc., in the manner of a linguistic portmanteau. attributive, not-comparable
"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."
- 1 A large travelling case usually made of leather, and opening into two equal sections.
"Rodolphus therefore finding such an earnest Invitation, embrac'd it with thanks, and with his Servant and Portmanteau, went to Don Juan's; where they first found good Stabling for their Horses, and afterwards as good Provision for themselves."
- 2 A word formed by putting two words together and thereby their meaning e.g. shrinkflation.
"Well then, ‘mimsy’ is ‘flimsy and miserable’ (there’s another portmanteau for you)."
- 3 a large travelling bag made of stiff leather wordnet
- 4 A schoolbag. Australia, dated
- 5 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."
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- 6 a new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings wordnet
- 7 A hook on which to hang clothing. archaic
"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."
- 1 To create a portmanteau word. transitive
Etymology
From Middle French portemanteau (“coat stand”), from porte (“carries”, third-person singular present indicative of porter (“to carry”)) + manteau (“coat”), literally “[that which] carries coat”.
First used by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass to describe the words he coined in “Jabberwocky”.
First used by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass to describe the words he coined in “Jabberwocky”.
First used by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass to describe the words he coined in “Jabberwocky”.
See also for "portmanteau"
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