Hybrid word

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A word that has one part derived from one language and another part derived from a different language is etymologically a hybrid word. The most common form of hybrid word in English is one which etymologically has both Latin and Greek parts. Since many prefixes and suffixes in English have Latin or Greek etymology, it is straightforward to tack a prefix or a suffix from one language onto an English word that comes from a different language, thus creating a hybrid word. This mixing of etymology is considered by some to be bad form, but others consider that, since both (or all) parts have entered the English lexicon, it is a simple conflation of two (or more) English words to make a new English word that connotes some thing that these parts clearly indicate, regardless of the history of its parts, and so is well constituted.

Some examples of hybrid words are listed below:

• Automobile - a wheeled passenger vehicle, from Greek άυτο~ "self~" and Latin mobilis "moveable"

• Electrocution — a portmanteau of electricity, from the Greek ἤλεκτρον (ēlektron), "amber", and execution, from the Latin exsequere, "follow out"
• Homosexual — from the Greek ὁμός (homos) meaning "same" and the Latin sexus meaning "gender"
• Hyperactive — from the Greek ὑπέρ (hyper) meaning "over" and the Latin activus
• Mega-annum — from the Greek μέγας (megas), "million", and the Latin annum, "year"
• Monolingual — from the Greek μόνος (monos) meaning "one" and the Latin lingua meaning "tongue"
• Mormon — It was alleged by Joseph Smith^{[citation needed]} that Mormon comes from the English "more" and the Reformed Egyptian mon meaning "good".
• Neonate — from the Greek νέος (neos), "new", and the Latin natus, "birth"
• Polyamory — from the Greek πολύς (polys) meaning "many" and the Latin amor meaning "love"
• Sociology — from the Latin socius, "comrade", and the Greek λόγος (logos) meaning "word", "reason", "discourse"
• Television — from the Greek τῆλε (tēle) meaning "far" and the Latin videre meaning "to see"