portmanteau

plural portmanteaus · plural portmanteaux

1. 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: […]

   1638, Corymbœus [pseudonym; Richard Brathwait], “His Northerne Journey: Third Part”, in Barnabees Journall; […], [London]: […] [John Haviland], →OCLC, signature P2, recto

   3 more examples

   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.

   1667, Charles Croke, Fortune's Uncertainty

   He brought down with him to our haunted house a little cask of salt beef; for, he is always convinced that all salt beef not of his own pickling, is mere carrion, and invariably, when he goes to London, packs a piece in his portmanteau.

   1859 December 13, Charles Dickens, “The Mortals in the House”, in Charles Dickens, editor, The Haunted House. The Extra Christmas Number of All the Year Round […], volume II, London: […] C[harles] Whiting, […], →OCLC, page 7, column 2

   I believe that people are like portmanteaux—packed with certain things, started going, thrown about, tossed away, dumped down, lost and found, half emptied suddenly, or squeezed fatter than ever, until finally the Ultimate Porter swings them on to the Ultimate Train and away they rattle. . . .

   1918 February (date written), Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Je ne parle pas français”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 71

2. human sciencesA word formed by putting two words together and thereby their meaning.

   Well then, ‘mimsy’ is ‘flimsy and miserable’ (there’s another portmanteau for you).

   1871 December 27 (indicated as 1872), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Humpty Dumpty”, in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, pages 128–129

   2 more examples

   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.

   [1871 December 27 (indicated as 1872), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Humpty Dumpty”, in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, pages 126–127

   It also reflects the way portmanteau coinages incorporating “bro-” and “man-” — “portmanbros,” if you will — have increasingly taken on a critical edge, in keeping with shifts in conversations around gender.

   2017 December 14, Jennifer Schuessler, “‘Youthquake’ Is Oxford’s Word of the Year. Sorry, Broflake.”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Nov 2019

   Synonyms: portmanteau word, blend, blend word, lexical blend, amalgamation, brunch word, frankenword, portmantologism

3. A portmanteau film.

   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.

   2021 July 12, Nicholas Barber, “The French Dispatch: Four stars for Wes Anderson's latest”, in BBC

   1 more example

   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.

   2002 December 11, Nick Bradshaw, “One day in September”, in Time Out, page 71

4. AustraliadatedA schoolbag.

   Synonyms: port, school port

5. archaicA 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.

   1918 February (date written), Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Je ne parle pas français”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 72

1. attributivenot comparablehuman sciencesMade 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.

   2002 December 14, Nicholas Lezard, “Spooky tales by the master and friends”, in The Guardian (London), page 30

   Synonyms: blend

present singular third person portmanteaus · participle present portmanteauing · participle past portmanteaued · past portmanteaued · participle past portmanteau'd · past portmanteau'd

1. transitiveTo create a portmanteau word.

   Synonyms: blend