portmanteau

American  

[pawrt-man-toh, pawrt-man-toh] / pɔrtˈmæn toʊ, ˌpɔrt mænˈtoʊ /

noun

• portmanteaus,
  plural
• portmanteaux
  plural

1. Chiefly British. a case or bag to carry clothing in while traveling, especially a leather trunk or suitcase that opens into two halves.

2. Linguistics.

   1. Also called portmanteau word.  a word that combines the form and meaning of two or more other words; a blend.

   2. Also called portmanteau morph.  a phonological unit of more than one morpheme, as French au (to the) from à to + le masculine article, which realizes a preposition and the definite article; a single morph that is analyzed as representing two underlying morphemes.

3. something that combines or blends several items, features, or qualities.

   I've gathered a portmanteau of ideas from my colleagues.

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adjective

1. combining or blending several items, features, or qualities.

   a portmanteau film with two good stories.

portmanteau British  

/ pɔːtˈmæntəʊ /

noun

1. (formerly) a large travelling case made of stiff leather, esp one hinged at the back so as to open out into two compartments

2. (modifier) embodying several uses or qualities

   the heroine is a portmanteau figure of all the virtues

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• portmanteaus
  plural
• portmanteaux
  plural

Etymology

Origin of portmanteau

From French portemanteau literally, “(it) carries (the) cloak”; see port ⁵, mantle; portmanteau def. 1 was first recorded in 1575–85, and portmanteau def. 2a in 1871 in Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.

Explanation

A portmanteau is a large suitcase. The word comes from French porter "carry" and manteau "mantle, or cloak" — so it's what you carry your clothes in. Or, a portmanteau is a word made by combining two other words. You might remember portmanteau from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, where Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the portmanteau word, in which "two meanings are packed up into one word." So, according to Humpty Dumpty, slithy means "lithe and slimy," and mimsy is "flimsy and miserable." You can make your own portmanteau words, and here are some examples for inspiration: smog (smoke + fog); brunch (breakfast + lunch), sitcom (situation + comedy), and infomercial (information + commercial).

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

portmanteau portmanteaus portmanteaux

There’s a belief that nutraceuticals—a portmanteau of nutrition and pharmaceutical—can’t hurt because they’re natural, but “poisons are natural,” Barzilai says.

From Barron's ● May 21, 2026

SaaSpocalypse is the portmanteau combining the acronym for software-as-a-service, SaaS, with apocalypse.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 24, 2026

“Smog” is a turn-of-the-century portmanteau word mashing together “smoke” and “fog” to describe the sooty, sulfurous air of the London of Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026

With Australian billionaire James Packer, Ratner formed RatPac Entertainment—a portmanteau nodding to the Frank Sinatra era of showbiz that Ratner venerated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026

He wore a new hat now, and a new broadcloth coat, so they knew what the portmanteau had contained.

From "Absalom, Absalom!" by William Faulkner

They experiment with Morse code, and coin portmanteaus to save on their daily word quota.

From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2023

As long as there have been neighborhoods, there have been portmanteaus meant to sell those neighborhoods and their potential trendiness.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 31, 2022

“Deltacron,” or “deltamicron” if you like more syllables in your portmanteaus, might be appearing in the news, but so far it seems to be more bark than bite.

From Slate ● Mar. 15, 2022

In that first iteration, the anonymous writer explained “hatriot” in almost bemused terms as just one then recent example of portmanteaus like “Republocrat”.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 7, 2019

The two cloak room tickets for portmanteaus inspired the dentist to remark: "Must be in one of the portmanteaus."

From '?19,000' by Delannoy, Burford

In one corner lay a pile of books and a couple of sea-stained portmanteaux.

From Rounding up the Raider A Naval Story of the Great War by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

Lord Fairholme had carried off his son’s portmanteaux, and had actually hired a room in the Green Dragon next to that reserved for Cynthia.

From Cynthia's Chauffeur by Tracy, Louis

Pantulu stepped out of the carriage and directed the driver to place the two leather portmanteaux on the steps.

From The Outcaste by Penny, F. E.

The douaniers look upon tourists as their natural enemies; see how eagerly they pounce upon the portmanteaux!

From The Ascent of the Matterhorn by Whymper, Edward

For a single man, two boxes! five bags! portmanteaux!

From Six Women and the Invasion by Yerta, Gabrielle