portmanteau
noun
- word blending the sounds and combining the meanings of two others
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /pɔːtˈmæn.təʊ/ / /pɔɹtˈmæn.toʊ/ / /ˌpɔɹt.mænˈtoʊ/
adj
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der. Proto-Indo-European *pr̥téh₂ Proto-Italic *portā Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Proto-Italic *portāō Latin portāre Old French porter Middle French porte Latin mantellum Middle French manteau Middle French portemanteaubor. English portmanteau From Middle French portemanteau (“coat stand”), from porte (“he carries”, third-person singular present indicative of porter (“to carry”)) + manteau (“coat”), literally “[that which] carries coat”. The lexical sense (sense 2) was first used figuratively by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass (1871) to describe the words he coined in the poem “Jabberwocky”, based on the concept of two words packed together, similar to a portmanteau (sense 1). Sense 3 (“portmanteau film”) is derived from this.
- 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
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der. Proto-Indo-European *pr̥téh₂ Proto-Italic *portā Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Proto-Italic *portāō Latin portāre Old French porter Middle French porte Latin mantellum Middle French manteau Middle French portemanteaubor. English portmanteau From Middle French portemanteau (“coat stand”), from porte (“he carries”, third-person singular present indicative of porter (“to carry”)) + manteau (“coat”), literally “[that which] carries coat”. The lexical sense (sense 2) was first used figuratively by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass (1871) to describe the words he coined in the poem “Jabberwocky”, based on the concept of two words packed together, similar to a portmanteau (sense 1). Sense 3 (“portmanteau film”) is derived from this.
- 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: […]”
“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.”
- 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.”
“Well then, ‘mimsy’ is ‘flimsy and miserable’ (there’s another portmanteau for you).”
- 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.”
“His long-awaited portmanteau, which premiered in Cannes on Monday, is the most Anderson of all Anderson films. It's Anderson distilled, Anderson squared, Anderson to the nth degree.”
- 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
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der. Proto-Indo-European *pr̥téh₂ Proto-Italic *portā Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Proto-Italic *portāō Latin portāre Old French porter Middle French porte Latin mantellum Middle French manteau Middle French portemanteaubor. English portmanteau From Middle French portemanteau (“coat stand”), from porte (“he carries”, third-person singular present indicative of porter (“to carry”)) + manteau (“coat”), literally “[that which] carries coat”. The lexical sense (sense 2) was first used figuratively by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass (1871) to describe the words he coined in the poem “Jabberwocky”, based on the concept of two words packed together, similar to a portmanteau (sense 1). Sense 3 (“portmanteau film”) is derived from this.
- To create a portmanteau word.