What are retronyms?
A retronym is a new term for an old concept that is created because the word for the old concept has shifted in meaning and no longer uniquely refers to the original idea.
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A retronym is a new term that is created for an old concept because the original word for the old concept has shifted in meaning and no longer uniquely refers to the original idea.
Some examples in English include:
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| analog clock | Before digital clocks, all clocks were analog. |
| Baja California | California originally referred to just the peninsula. |
| brown rice | Rice was originally brown. |
| dairy milk | Dairy milk used to be the only kind of milk. |
| dark chocolate | Dark chocolate used to be the only kind of chocolate. |
| hard cider | Ciders were originally all alcoholic. |
| snail mail | Prior to email, all mail was delivered via the postal service. |
| World War I | Until WWII, WWI was referred to as simply The Great War. |
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You can also read more about one particularly interesting retronym in Native American languages here:
‘dog’ vs. ‘horse’ in Native American languages
Why are dogs called ‘little horses’ in some Native American languages?
Daniel W. Hieber, Ph.D.
Fun bonus fact: The term retronym was coined in 1980 by the president of National Public Radio (NPR), Frank Mankiewicz.
