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Where does the word "portmanteau" come from? It comes from French porter + manteau, and was adopted directly into English (1550s).
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Where does the word "portmanteau" come from? It comes from French porter + manteau, and was adopted directly into English (1550s).
Portmanteau’s story begins in French: porter + manteau meant “cloak-carrier.” 'to carry' plus 'cloak': a bag for carrying clothes, once a court officer's cloak-bearer. It reached English by 1550s as portmanteau. The sense 'word blending two others' was coined in 1871 by Lewis Carroll's Humpty Dumpty in 'Through the Looking-Glass', who said such words pack two meanings into one. Today, portmanteau means a blend of two words; a large travelling bag.
- Stage 1 · French · 1500s porter + manteau "cloak-carrier", 'to carry' plus 'cloak': a bag for carrying clothes, once a court officer's cloak-bearer.
- Stage 2 · English · 1550s portmanteau "travelling bag; blended word", the sense 'word blending two others' was coined in 1871 by Lewis Carroll's Humpty Dumpty in 'Through the Looking-Glass', who said such words pack two meanings into one.