Retronym
//ɹəˈtɹəʊ.nɪm// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A new word or phrase coined for an old object or concept whose original name has become used for something else or is no longer unique, or which did not originally have a specific name.
"The phrase is a retronym, the term Frank Mankiewicz has coined to describe names of familiar objects or events that need a modifier to catch up to more modern objects: day baseball and natural turf are in the same category as analog watch."
- 2 a word introduced because an existing term has become inadequate wordnet
Example
More examples"The phrase is a retronym, the term Frank Mankiewicz has coined to describe names of familiar objects or events that need a modifier to catch up to more modern objects: day baseball and natural turf are in the same category as analog watch."
Etymology
From retro- + -onym; coined by Frank Mankiewicz and popularized by William Safire.
More for "retronym"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.