portmanteau (2009-07-02)

Part of Speech: noun

Pronunciation: [port-mên-'to]

Definition: A large suitcase for carrying clothes in while traveling; a servant who carries one's clothes while traveling.

Usage: The basic meaning of today's word is "suitcase" but it is usually used in a poetic or humorous context: "The battered old portmanteau by the side of Miss Terplane bore the stamps of dozens of far-flung places she had, no doubt, left her mark on, too." The metaphorical usage of this word suggests several objects functioning somehow as one: "We are a portmanteau office; we function as one." Did you ever pray for a portmanteau government?

Suggested Usage: The portmanteau is the metaphor for a means of packing more than one object into what seems to be a single object. Portmanteau word is what linguists call a "blend," i.e. two words that are simply smushed together, as "smog" is blended from "smoke" and "fog" and "motel," from "motor" plus "hotel." Linguists do refer to portmanteau morphs, such as the French portmanteau prepositions "du," the equivalent of de+le, and "au," a blend of a + le.

Etymology: From the Middle French compound noun portemanteau "suitcase; coatrack" (literally, "mantle bearer") from porter "to carry" + manteau "mantle" from Latin mantel(l)um. "Mantellum" is of obscure origins, possible an old compound from man- "hand" + terg "wipe" + sli (suffix), since the original meaning seems to have been "napkin." The root por- in Latin "porter" is also the source of the "fare" of "farewell," "warfare," "wayfarer" in English. "Fare" originally meant "to journey" and is akin to German fahren "travel by conveyance."