| 单词 | portmanteau |
| 释义 | portmanteau 1. An old type of leather suitcase that usually opened into two compartments. The word originates from the French portemanteau, from porter (to carry) and manteau (cloak), and inspired Lewis Carroll’s use of the word with a new meaning. 2. A combination word, or blend, that combines the sounds and meanings of two words. Modem, for example, is a portmanteau that combines the words modulate and demodulate, describing a device that performs both functions. Similarly, a codec both codes and decodes data, and a transceiver is both a transmitter and receiver. Lewis Carroll coined this usage of the word in his famous book Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1871). In the book, Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the construct and meaning of words from the poem “Jabberwocky,” telling her that “Well,‘ slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy.’ . . .You see it’s like a portmanteau — there are two meanings packed up into one word.” |
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