Definition · Plain-language
Portmanteau
A portmanteau is a word made by blending the sounds and meanings of two existing words, such as brunch (breakfast + lunch) or smog (smoke + fog).
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Blending two words into one
A portmanteau word takes the beginning of one word and the end of another and fuses them, so the result carries a blend of both meanings. Brunch is a meal that is part breakfast and part lunch; smog is air that is both smoke and fog; a spork is part spoon, part fork. The term itself was popularised by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass, where Humpty Dumpty explains that words like slithy pack "two meanings into one word". A portmanteau was originally a large travelling case that opened into two halves — a fitting image for a word with two parts folded together.
Portmanteau versus compound
Portmanteaus are often confused with compound words, but the two are formed differently. A compound joins whole words intact — note + book gives notebook, with both words complete. A portmanteau clips at least one of its source words and usually overlaps the sounds, so the originals are no longer fully present: motel keeps only mo- of motor and -tel of hotel. Because of this clipping and blending, a portmanteau typically looks like a single seamless word rather than two words pushed together. The test is whether you can still see both whole words: if you can, it is a compound; if at least one is cut, it is a blend.
Portmanteaus in modern language
Blending is one of the liveliest ways new words enter English, especially in technology, marketing and popular culture. Recent and well-established examples include internet (international + network is debated, but blends abound), podcast (iPod + broadcast), emoticon (emotion + icon), Brexit (Britain + exit) and infotainment (information + entertainment). Many start as informal coinages and only some survive into the standard dictionary. Brands deliberately create portmanteaus to suggest two ideas at once, and social media accelerates their spread. A portmanteau is one kind of neologism — a newly coined word — distinguished by its method of construction rather than simply its newness.
Key facts
At a glance
- Definition: a word blending parts of two words in sound and meaning
- Also called: a blend or blend word
- Coined by: Lewis Carroll, in Through the Looking-Glass (1871)
- Examples: brunch, smog, motel, spork, podcast, Brexit
- Contrast: a compound joins whole words; a portmanteau clips them
- Relation: a type of neologism defined by how it is formed
Common misconceptions
What people often get wrong
Often heard: A portmanteau and a compound word are the same thing.
Actually: They differ in construction. A compound joins whole words (notebook), while a portmanteau clips and overlaps at least one of them (motel from motor + hotel). If both source words remain complete, it is a compound, not a blend.
Often heard: The word portmanteau was invented by linguists.
Actually: The linguistic sense was popularised by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass (1871), where Humpty Dumpty describes packing two meanings into one word. A portmanteau was originally a two-part travelling case.
Often heard: Any new word is a portmanteau.
Actually: A portmanteau is one type of neologism, defined by blending two words. New words coined other ways — from a person’s name (eponym), from initials (acronym) or borrowed from another language — are not portmanteaus.
Going deeper
