Types of Neologisms
This term refers to any new word, phrase, or new meaning added to a language.
Neologism
This type of neologism shortens a longer word, like exam or fridge.
Clipping
This process turns a word from one part of speech into another, like laugh becoming a noun.
Conversion
These are completely new words created in a language.
Coinages
This field studies the structure of words and how they are formed.
Morphology
This type of neologism forms a new word by combining the initial letters of a phrase (example: NASA).
Acronym
This type of neologism combines two whole words without blending sounds, like photobomb.
Compound
This type of neologism is formed from the name of a person or place, like Athens or the Julian calendar.
Eponym
This is the term for the act of creating a brand‑new word.
Coining
A speaker can usually identify a “word” because it is pronounceable, has meaning, and can do this with other words.
Combine with other words to form phrases or sentences
This type of neologism involves giving an old word a new meaning, like “text” becoming a verb.
Generalization (new meaning for an old word)
This type of neologism blends meaningful parts of two words, like brunch or spork.
Blend
This process occurs when a word with a specific meaning becomes used more broadly.
Generalization
Coinages often appear when this happens — for example, when a new invention needs a name.
Coinages often appear when this happens — for example, when a new invention needs a name.
This term refers to the “dictionary in your mind,” containing around 60,000 words for the average college freshman.
The Mental Lexicon
This type of neologism is created when a new product or technology appears and needs a name.
Coinage
This type of neologism is taken directly from another language, like déjà vu or aloha.
Borrowing
This word originally meant only a noun, but in the 1610s it began to be used as a verb meaning “to put something into position.”
Position
This famous adhesive strip brand was coined in the 1920s by Johnson & Johnson.
Band‑Aid
In the mental lexicon, words and concepts are connected in this kind of structure, made of “nodes.”
A network (interconnected web)
This term refers to the act of creating a new word — not just the word itself.
Coining (the act of creating a new word)
This blend contains one meaningful word and one part with no independent meaning, like the “‑lax” in chillax.
Blend with a non‑meaningful segment (e.g., “‑lax” in chillax)
This neologism type explains why a company name like Google or Band‑Aid can become a generic term for a whole category.
Generalization (applied to brand names)
Although technically all neologisms involve creating a new word or meaning, this term is often used specifically for neologisms that don’t fit any other category.
Coinage (in the narrow sense)
In the lexicon network, nodes can represent many kinds of information — name two types.
Concepts, ideas, sounds, words, memories (any two count)