neologism

English

Etymology

From French néologisme, from Ancient Greek νέος (néos, “new”) + λόγος (lógos, “word”) +‎ -ism.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /niːˈɒləd͡ʒɪzəm/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /niˈɑləˌd͡ʒɪzəm/

Noun

neologism (countable and uncountable, plural neologisms)

1. (linguistics, lexicography, countable) A word or phrase which has recently been coined; a new word or phrase.

   Synonyms: coinage, neoterism

   • 2015 July 15, Roc Morin, “How to Say Everything in a Hundred-Word Language”, in The Atlantic‎^[1], archived from the original on 3 February 2017:

     These neologisms demonstrate the cumulative quality of language, in which we use the known to describe the unknown.

2. (linguistics, lexicography, countable, by extension) An existing word or phrase which has gained a new meaning.
3. (linguistics, uncountable) The act or instance of coining, or uttering a new word.
   • 2002 August 25, Erin McKean, “THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: 8-25-02: ON LANGUAGE; Neologist”, in The New York Times‎^[2], archived from the original on 23 March 2021:

     Neologizing, the practice of coining new words, may seem to be an arcane, specialized activity, but it's everywhere -- and the skillful employment of neologism is what gives English much of its verve.

4. (psychiatry) The newly coined, meaningless words or phrases of someone with a psychosis, usually schizophrenia.
5. (theology, historical) Synonym of neology.

Usage notes

• There is no precise moment when a word stops being "new", but fifteen to twenty years is a common cutoff (corresponding to one generation growing up potentially familiar with the word, depending on how common it is). Acceptance of a word as valid by dictionaries or by a significant portion of the population are sometimes mentioned as additional conditions. Some neologisms become widespread and standard (such as new chemical element names), others remain rare or slangy. (Distinguish from protologisms, coinages which have not become common.)

Antonyms

• paleologism

Derived terms

• neologistic
• pseudoneologism

Related terms

• neologize
• neologizer
• neology

Translations

recently coined word

• Arabic: مُوَلَّدَة f (muwallada)
• Armenian: նորաբանություն (hy) (norabanutʻyun)
• Basque: neologismo
• Breton: nevezc'her (br) m
• Bulgarian: неологизъм (bg) m (neologizǎm)
• Catalan: neologisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 新詞語 / 新词语 (zh) (xīncíyǔ), 新詞 / 新词 (zh) (xīncí)

• Czech: novotvar (cs) m, neologismus (cs) m
• Danish: neologisme (da) c
• Dutch: neologisme (nl) n
• Esperanto: neologismo (eo)
• Estonian: uudissõna, neologism (et)
• Faroese: nýggjyrði n
• Finnish: uudismuodoste, uudissana (fi)
• French: néologisme (fr) m
• Galician: neoloxismo (gl) m
• Georgian: ნეოლოგიზმი (ka) (neologizmi)
• German: Neologismus (de) m
• Greek: νεολογισμός (el) m (neologismós)
• Hebrew: תַּחְדִּישׁ (he) (takhdish)
• Hungarian: neologizmus (hu), új szó, újonnan alkotott szó
• Icelandic: nýyrði (is) n
• Irish: nuafhocal m
• Italian: neologismo (it) m
• Japanese: 新語 (ja) (しんご, shingo), 新造語 (しんぞうご, shinzōgo), 造語 (ja) (ぞうご, zōgo)
• Kazakh: жаңа сөз (jaña söz)
• Korean: 신어(新語) (ko) (sineo), 신조어(新造語) (ko) (sinjo'eo)
• Latin: neologismus m
• Latvian: jaunvārds (lv) m, neoloģisms m
• Lithuanian: naujadaras m, neologizmas m
• Macedonian: новотвореница f (novotvorenica), неологизам m (neologizam)
• Manx: noa-ockle m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: neologisme (no) m, nyord n

  Nynorsk: neologisme (no) m

• Persian: نوواژه (fa) (now-vâže)
• Polish: neologizm (pl) m, nowosłów m, nowosłowie n, nowotwór (pl) m
• Portuguese: neologismo (pt) m
• Romanian: neologism (ro) n
• Russian: неологи́зм (ru) m (neologízm)
• Serbo-Croatian: neologizam (sh) m, novotvorenica (sh) f
• Spanish: neologismo (es) m
• Swedish: neologism (sv) c
• Turkish: yenici deyim
• Udmurt: вылькыл (vyľkyl)
• Walloon: noûmot (wa) m
• Welsh: newyddair (cy) m

instance of coinage

• Arabic: تَوْلِيد (ar) m (tawlīd)
• Armenian: նորաբանություն (hy) (norabanutʻyun)
• Hungarian: szóalkotás (hu), (less commonly) szóújítás (hu)

schizophrenic meaningless word

• Greek: νεολογισμός (el) m (neologismós)
• Norwegian: neologisme (no) m

See also

• protologism
• vogue words
• Category:English neologisms

References

• The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style. Bryan A. Garner. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 21 June 2006
• The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Anagrams

• mooseling

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French néologisme.

Noun

neologism n (plural neologisme)

1. neologism

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	neologism	neologismul		neologisme	neologismele
genitive-dative	neologism	neologismului		neologisme	neologismelor
vocative	neologismule			neologismelor