neologism
noun

- a new word, usage, or expression

Merriam-Webster

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ORIGIN

The English language is constantly picking up neologisms, particularly from computer science, technology and social media.

“Webinar,” “malware,” “cyberspace” and “blogosphere” are just a few examples of modern-day neologisms that have been integrated into British and American English.

The word neologism was itself a brand-new coinage at the beginning of the 19th century, when English speakers first borrowed it from the French nèologisme. Its roots, however, are quite old. Ultimately, “neologism” comes from Greek neos (meaning “new”) and “logos” (meaning “word”).

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TALKING POINT

Not content with the million or so words already in print, different English Dictionaries add new ones at the rate of around 1,000 a year.

But there’s more; according to Global Language Monitor, around 5,400 new words are created every year; it’s only the 1,000 or so deemed to be in sufficiently widespread use that make it into print.

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THE ADMIRABLE NEOLOGIST

Shakespeare is often held up as a master neologist, because the of over 1,500 new words and phrases he minted, coined, or invented. Some of my favourites are:

admirable, amazement, birthplace, catlike, dewdrop, dog-weary, eyewink, fairyland, fortune-teller, gentlefolk, honey-tongued, hot-blooded, ladybird, moonbeam, rose-cheeked, shooting star, transcendence, watchdog

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Sources:

- Sandra Greiffenstern - The Influence of Computers, the Internet and Computer-Mediated Communication on Everyday English

- Patrizia Anesa - Lexical Innovation in World Englishes: Cross-fertilization and Evolving Paradigms

- Forough Sayadi - “The Translation of Neologisms” Translation Journal

- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

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Paul Smith