neonism

English

WOTD – 2 May 2011

Etymology

Formed irregularly from the Ancient Greek νέον (néon) (neon: neuter singular form of νέος (néos), neos, “new”) + the English -ism; compare the closely related neo- and neon, as well as the earlier synonym neologism.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈniːənɪzəm/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

neonism (countable and uncountable, plural neonisms)

1. (rare, linguistics) A word or phrase which has recently been coined; a new word or phrase, a neologism.
   • 1883, S. Mullen, The Melbourne Review, volume 8, page 204:

     Now, it will not be denied that in the present day two great sources of the modification of our language are native slang and American neonism.

   • 1948, Johnson O'Connor, English Vocabulary Builder, volume 2:

     Blurb is a neonism, a modern manufactured word which appears in only the most recent dictionaries.

See also

• neo
• neon
• neologism

References

• “†neonism, n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [draft revision, Dec. 2009]

Anagrams

• monesin, noneism