portmanteau

American  

[pawrt-man-toh, pawrt-man-toh] / pɔrtˈmæn toʊ, ˌpɔrt mænˈtoʊ /

noun

portmanteaus, plural portmanteaux plural

1. Chiefly British. a case or bag to carry clothing in while traveling, especially a leather trunk or suitcase that opens into two halves.

2. Linguistics.

   1. Also called portmanteau word.  a word that combines the form and meaning of two or more other words; a blend.

   2. Also called portmanteau morph.  a phonological unit of more than one morpheme, as French au (to the) from à to + le masculine article, which realizes a preposition and the definite article; a single morph that is analyzed as representing two underlying morphemes.

3. something that combines or blends several items, features, or qualities.

   I've gathered a portmanteau of ideas from my colleagues.

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adjective

1. combining or blending several items, features, or qualities.

   a portmanteau film with two good stories.

portmanteau British  

/ pɔːtˈmæntəʊ /

noun

1. (formerly) a large travelling case made of stiff leather, esp one hinged at the back so as to open out into two compartments

2. (modifier) embodying several uses or qualities

   the heroine is a portmanteau figure of all the virtues

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• portmanteaus
  plural
• portmanteaux
  plural

Etymology

Origin of portmanteau

From French portemanteau literally, “(it) carries (the) cloak”; see port ⁵, mantle; portmanteau def. 1 was first recorded in 1575–85, and portmanteau def. 2a in 1871 in Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.

Explanation

A portmanteau is a large suitcase. The word comes from French porter "carry" and manteau "mantle, or cloak" — so it's what you carry your clothes in. Or, a portmanteau is a word made by combining two other words. You might remember portmanteau from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, where Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the portmanteau word, in which "two meanings are packed up into one word." So, according to Humpty Dumpty, slithy means "lithe and slimy," and mimsy is "flimsy and miserable." You can make your own portmanteau words, and here are some examples for inspiration: smog (smoke + fog); brunch (breakfast + lunch), sitcom (situation + comedy), and infomercial (information + commercial).

Example Sentences

“There’s a certain idea of what ‘holiday decor’ is supposed to look like,” says Sunyoung “Sunny” Hong, owner of Portmanteau Home, a North Seattle studio that specializes in multicultural home design.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 11, 2021

Her Portmanteau A Nigerian immigrant and her two daughters confront their family's legacy in the West Coast premiere of Mfoniso Udofia's drama.

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2018

Portmanteau productions can have a cobbled-together, Frankenstein’s Monster feel to them but he insists there’s a continuity to this one.

From The Guardian • Aug. 31, 2017

As Mrs. Onassis, Jackie brought Billy Baldwin and the Tilletts to Skorpios to work on the Greek villa her husband, Aristotle, was building, and furnished the seed money for the couple’s Manhattan shop, Portmanteau.

From New York Times • Oct. 12, 2012

Compartments with handles, to be used as Portmanteau; 6.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, November 29, 1890 by Various