Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

retronymy

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: retronymy
IPA

17

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

1

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The process of creating retronyms; coining new words for existing concepts because the meaning of the original word has broadened.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Much retronymy is driven by advances in technology."
"Of special interest to terminologists is retronymy, which consists of renaming an existing concept more precisely in order to adjust to a conceptual shift, as will be illustrated below."
"What they describe is the well-known phenomenon of retronymy (see, for instance, Ahmad & Collingham 1996). Whatever such consequential terminological changes are called, this understanding of 'gap' is system-related."

Etymology

From retro- + -onymy.

Word Breakdown

Prefix: retro
Suffix: onymy

Usage

Uncountable

Questions

What does retronymy mean?: The process of creating retronyms; coining new words for existing concepts because the meaning of the original word has broadened.
Where does retronymy come from?: From retro- + -onymy.

How to pronounce retronymy

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