malapropism

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmæləpɹɑpˌɪzəm/; /ˈmæləpɹɒpˌɪzəm/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from malaprop “a malapropism” with the suffix -ism,^[2][3][4] after Mrs Malaprop, a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy The Rivals (1775) noted for her ridiculous misuse of words.^[3][5][6] Sheridan formed her name from malapropos.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act or habit of misusing words through a wish to use fine language; also a word misused in this way.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Mrs Malaprop's blunders include “a nice derangement of epitaphs” for “a nice arrangement of epithets”, an example Etymonline quotes from Fowler.^[5] The word names both the habit and a single instance of it.^[2][7][4][1]

Timeline

• 1775 – Sheridan's The Rivals.^[3][5][6]
• 1823 – malaprop for such a misuse.^[3]
• 1826 – Etymonline's date for malapropism;^[5] the OED, Merriam-Webster and Barnhart give 1849.^[7][6][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The ludicrous misuse of a word, especially through confusion with one that sounds similar.
2. An instance of such misuse.

Word family

• malapropian
• malapropist
• malapropistic

Related words

• malapropos

References

1. [1] [2] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. [1] [2] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. [1] [2] [3] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. [1] [2] [3] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press