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retronym.

A new word or phrase coined for an old object or concept whose original name has become used for something else or is no longer unique, or which did not originally have a specific name.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɹəˈtɹəʊ.nɪm/Received-Pronunciation/ɹəˈtɹoʊ.nɪm/General-American
  1. A new word or phrase coined for an old object or concept whose original name has become used for something else or is no longer unique, or which did not originally have a specific name.

Where this word comes from

From retro- + -onym; coined by Frank Mankiewicz and popularized by William Safire.

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retronym studioretronym workshello, retronym

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.