| portmanteau word |
| Definition: A word made up of the blended sounds and meanings of two distinct words. |
| Example: Lewis Carrol coined the word chortle by combining chuckle and snort. |
| Etymology: Lewis Carrol coined the term and so-named it because "there are two meanings packed up into one word." It first appeared in print in Through the Looking Glass (1872) |
| Oxford English Dictionary: It's first citation is from 1872: "Well, ‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’.… You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word." (Lewis Carroll, Through Looking-Gl. vi. 127) |