Fun with Neologism

Everything that is old was new once upon a time. Someone at some point in time had to have that light bulb moment to create something that never existed before. And language, the words we use are no exception.

I did not know until we were issued a Challenge around a year ago that the invention of a new word has a name: Neologism. The concept itself was not new to me, I have on occasion created words not previously in existence to meet a need for my writing. For example, pacificative and vexative which feature in It’s about Me, Not You! (click the link for full story - definitions included in this article). When Vocal issued the Challenge to invent a new word that does not already exist and write a micro fiction story that gives a sense of the meaning of our creation, many of us rose to meet it with gusto! Myself included.

I submitted two entries into the competition, having created two words both with special significance to me. Optkin and Bocanier (click the links to peruse at your leisure!).

Optkin I invented solely for a word to adequately describe my best friends. Because best friend just doesn’t cut it. You know the ones. I’m sure you have them too. Those friends who are so very much more than a friend. They are family without the shared genetic code. They are the adopted ones there is no legal paperwork for. They are the family we choose.

Bocanier I created to describe a particular type of person, a category I fall into. I had not long joined a number of reading groups, intending to learn a little about readers for market research. And learn about my target audience I did... I also fell down the rabbit hole of Special Editions, Exclusive Editions and book collecting in general. There were no succinct words to describe the communities I encountered and hence I created the name Bocaneeir – an extreme book lover. Someone willing to spend an obscene amount of time and money in the pursuit of bookish desires. Someone that Book Worm or Book Dragon was just not adequate for. I’m still hopeful that one day the word will catch on and make it’s way into the dictionary. If side-boob and staycation can make it in, I think Bocanire stands a ghost of a chance!

A year on, I have culled the number of groups I follow and now interact with a select favoured few. I'm sure I'd be a few dollars richer had I not discovered new books and an expensive hobby through their recommendations but I don’t think I'd be any happier. I also would not have been inspired to create new words for the bookish things many of the members of the bookish community do. Seriously, there are memes!

So, without further ado, here are my three newly created words, complete with etymology and pronunciation.

Polyraedere. (Poll-IE r-AH-D-ear). Noun.

One who reads multiple books concurrently. Derived from the Latin prefix Poly, meaning many and Raedere, found in old English, French and Germanic meaning reader.

Polylibrology. (Poll-IE lih-B-roLL-oh-Gee). Noun.

The name of the practice of looking at, or searching for, books while having access to or having possession of a number of books not yet read. Derived from the Latin prefix Poly meaning many, libro Latin for book and the suffix -ology meaning study of.

Polylibrist. (Poll-IE Ll-ihb-rist). Noun.

One who practices Polylibrology.

And as promised, definitions from It's about Me, not You!

• Pacificative – (P-ah-sif-Ih-Kah-T-ive). Verb. An action with the effect of pacifying, making peaceful. Synonym - Placate. Derived from the Latin pac- meaning peace and the suffix -tive meaning inclined to.

(This word was specifically created to be part of a ridiculous, made up, fancy psychology term)

• Vexative – (vex-ah-T-ive). Verb. Latin root in vexare, to vex (old English) meaning to shake, disturb, annoy and suffix -tive meaning inclined to.

I hope you have enjoyed the ridiculousness that is my Neologistic creative tendencies and I hope to continue adding to my dictionary in the future!

Please note – Prior to publishing I have performed searches for the invented words to find out if they are actually new or already in existence. At the time of publishing both the original articles of writing and this article, there were no results for these exact words.