Definition:
A word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two or more other words.
Etymology:
From Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871)Examples & Observations:
- brunch (breakfast + lunch)
- motel (motor + hotel)
- pixel (pic + element)
- quasar (quasi-stellar + star)
- smog (smoke + fog)
- socialite (social + light)
- sonar (sound navigation and ranging)
- splatter (splash + spatter)
- statusphere (status + atmosphere)
- telethon (television + marathon)
- "So a blog is a web log? Is there an apostrophe, or do you guys not even have the strength for that? You’re just going to jam two words together?"
(Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, February 2006)
Pronunciation: port-MAN-tow
Also Known As: blend
