retronym
Valid in Scrabble
- Scrabble points
- 13
- Words With Friends
- 14
- Letters
- 8
/ɹəˈtɹəʊ.nɪm/
See all 2 pronunciations Show less
/ɹəˈtɹəʊ.nɪm/ · /ɹəˈtɹoʊ.nɪm/
Definition of retronym
1 sense · 1 part of speech · etymology included
noun
-
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.
“The phrase is a retronym, the term Frank Mankiewicz has coined to describe names of familiar objects or events that need a modifier to catch up to more modern objects: day baseball and natural turf are in the same category as analog watch.”
“You can get a good sense of the pace of change over the past century just by looking at the retronyms we've accumulated. New technologies have forced us to come up with terms like steam locomotive, silent movie […]”
Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.
Etymology
From retro- + -onym; coined by Frank Mankiewicz and popularized by William Safire.
Words you can make from retronym
113 playable · top: ETYMON (11 pts)
Best play etymon 11 points6-letter words
5 words5-letter words
20 words4-letter words
33 words- MONY 9 pts
- OYER 7 pts
- RYOT 7 pts
- TONY 7 pts
- TORY 7 pts
- TREY 7 pts
- TROY 7 pts
- TYER 7 pts
- TYNE 7 pts
- TYRE 7 pts
- TYRO 7 pts
- YORE 7 pts
- MENO 6 pts
- MORE 6 pts
- MORN 6 pts
- MORT 6 pts
- MOTE 6 pts
- NOME 6 pts
- NORM 6 pts
- OMEN 6 pts
- OMER 6 pts
- TERM 6 pts
- TOME 6 pts
- TREM 6 pts
- NOTE 4 pts
- RENO 4 pts
- RENT 4 pts
- ROTE 4 pts
- TERN 4 pts
- TONE 4 pts
- TORE 4 pts
- TORN 4 pts
- TORR 4 pts
3-letter words
35 words- YOM 8 pts
- RYE 6 pts
- TOY 6 pts
- TRY 6 pts
- TYE 6 pts
- YEN 6 pts
- YER 6 pts
- YET 6 pts
- YON 6 pts
- EMO 5 pts
- MEN 5 pts
- MET 5 pts
- MON 5 pts
- MOR 5 pts
- MOT 5 pts
- NOM 5 pts
- REM 5 pts
- ROM 5 pts
- TOM 5 pts
- EON 3 pts
- ERN 3 pts
- ERR 3 pts
- NET 3 pts
- NOR 3 pts
- NOT 3 pts
- ONE 3 pts
- ORE 3 pts
- ORT 3 pts
- RET 3 pts
- ROE 3 pts
- ROT 3 pts
- TEN 3 pts
- TOE 3 pts
- TON 3 pts
- TOR 3 pts
2-letter words
19 wordsHooks
1 extension · 1 back
A single letter you can add to retronym to make another valid word.
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