| folk etymology |
| Definition: A word-creation process where new words are made from existing words by making their obscure parts meaningful. |
| Example:
(1) The phrase plantar wart— which derives from the Latin planta, sole — becomes planter's wart (2) the Old English agnail, a swelling around the nail, becomes hangnail, a piece of torn skin at the nail's root |
| Etymology: The term was coined as a loan translation (i.e., a word-for-word translation) of the German Volksetymologie. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The word's first OED citation is from 1883: "It does not mend the matter, if, when we have no better argument, we call it *folk-etymology."
(G. Stephens and S. Bugge's Studies on Northern Mythology, p 28) |