retronym
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See also: Retronym
English
Etymology
From retro- + -onym; coined by Frank Mankiewicz and popularized by William Safire.
Noun
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retronym (plural retronyms)
- (linguistics) A new word or phrase coined for an old object or concept whose original name has become used for something else or is no longer unique, or which did not originally have a specific name.
- Coordinate term: anachronym
- 1982 December 26, William Safire, “On Language: Watch what you say”, in New York Times:
- The phrase is a retronym, the term Frank Mankiewicz has coined to describe names of familiar objects or events that need a modifier to catch up to more modern objects: day baseball and natural turf are in the same category as analog watch.
- 2004, Geoff Nunberg, Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Confrontational Times, →ISBN, page 239:
- You can get a good sense of the pace of change over the past century just by looking at the retronyms we've accumulated. New technologies have forced us to come up with terms like steam locomotive, silent movie […]
Derived terms
Translations
A new coinage for an old concept
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See also
References
- ^ Jeremy M. Brosowsky (2001 March) “Frankly Speaking”, in Business Forward, archived from the original on 20 September 2002
- ^ William Safire (1982 December 26) “On Language: Watch what you say”, in New York Times
- ^ William Safire (2007 January 7) “On Language: Retronym”, in New York Times, retrieved November 8, 2017
Further reading
Danish
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
retronym n (singular definite retronymet, plural indefinite retronymer)
Declension
Declension of retronym
| neuter gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | retronym | retronymet | retronymer | retronymerne |
| genitive | retronyms | retronymets | retronymers | retronymernes |
Swedish
Etymology
Noun
retronym c
Declension
| Declension of retronym | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | retronym | retronymen | retronymer | retronymerna |
| Genitive | retronyms | retronymens | retronymers | retronymernas |