Category Archives: Naming Glossary

sociative morpheme

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Definition | Meaning:

  1. An element of a compound brand name which does not normally occur outside of that compound.

Example | Illustration:

  • Ocean Spray Cran•Apple brand juice
  • Ocean Spray Cran•Cherry brand juice
  • Ocean Spray Cran•Grape brand juice
  • Ocean Spray Cran•Mango brand juice
  • Ocean Spray Cran•Raspberry brand juice
  • Ocean Spray Cran•Strawberry brand juice
  • Ocean Spray Cran•Tangerine brand juice

Compare | See:

  • morpheme

simile

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Definition | Meaning:

  1. A figure of speech in which an explicit comparison is made between two unlike objects via a construction such as like, as, than, similar to, resembles, etc.

Example | Illustration:

  • The former Chevy slogan ‘Like A Rock’ is a simile for ‘tough’.

root

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Definition | Meaning:

  1. The semantic kernel from which a set of words is derived by phonetic, morphemic, and/or semantic change.

Example | Illustration:

  • The shared semantic kernel of the words ‘black’, ‘blue’, ‘blond’, and ‘blush’ is the Indo-European root *bhel-, which originally referred (several thousand years ago) to the colors seen in a fire.

Compare | See”

  • semantics

retronym

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Definition | Meaning:

  1. A new category name developed in response to the development of another new category name, in order to avoid confusion as the result of a cultural or technological change.

Example | Illustration:

  • ‘acoustic guitar’ in response to ‘electric guitar’
  • ‘analog watch’ in response to ‘digital watch’
  • ‘live performance’ in response to ‘pre-recorded performance’
  • ‘real cream’ in response to ‘non-dairy creamer’
  • ‘snail-mail’ in response to ‘e-mail’
  • ‘whole milk’ in response to ‘skim milk’