Portmanteau Word
Preserved but no longer current.
An artificial word made up of parts of others, and expressive of a combina- tion denoted by those parts — such as squarson, a cross between a squire and a parson. Lewis Carroll invented the term in Through the Lookmg-Glass, ch. vi; slzthy, he says, means lithe and slimy ? mimsy is flimsy and miserable, etc. So called because there are two meanings "packed up" in the one word.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Portmanteau Word” mean?
An artificial word made up of parts of others, and expressive of a combina- tion denoted by those parts — such as squarson, a cross between a squire and a parson. Lewis Carroll invented the term in Through the Lookmg-Glass, ch. vi; slzthy, he says, means lithe and slimy ? mimsy is flimsy and miserable, etc. So called because there are two meanings "packed up" in the one word.
Is “Portmanteau Word” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.