Tuesday, February 11, 2014

neologize

neologize \nee-OL-uh-jahyz\, verb:

1. to make or use new words or create new meanings for existing words.
2. to devise or accept new religious doctrines.

Scientists at Northwestern University, inspired by the faux pundit’s ability to neologize, created a set of nouns for “Colbertian,” which they could use to test the effects of bilingualism.
-- Amina Khan, “Bilingualism: Stephen Colbert's 'truthiness' inspires a language,” The Los Angeles Times, 2012
In the meanwhile, necessity obliges us to neologize.
-- Thomas Jefferson, “To John Waldo,” 1813, Jefferson: Political Writings, 1999

Neologize joins the Greek neo meaning "new" with a variant on –logy, a combining form derived from the Greek logos meaning "word, speech, discourse, reason." This verb entered English in the early 1800s.

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