neonism

English

WOTD – 2 May 2011

Etymology

Formed irregularly from the Ancient Greek νέον (néon) (neon: neuter singular form of νέος (néos), neos, “new”) + the English -ism; compare the closely related ne- and neon, as well as the earlier synonym neologism.

Pronunciation

  • (file)

Noun

neonism (countable and uncountable, plural neonisms)

  1. (rare, linguistics) A word or phrase which has recently been coined; a new word or phrase, a neologism.
    • 1883, S. Mullen, The Melbourne Review, Volume 8. p. 204:
      Now, it will not be denied that in the present day two great sources of the modification of our language are native slang and American neonism.
    • 1948, Johnson O'Connor, English Vocabulary Builder, vol. 2:
      Blurb is a neonism, a modern manufactured word which appears in only the most recent dictionaries.

See also

References

WOTD – 2 May 2011

Anagrams

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