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{{Short description|Word altered to differentiate from a new use}}
{{confuse|Backronym}}
A '''retronym''' is a newer name for something that [[disambiguation|differentiates]] it from something else that is newer, similar, or seen in everyday life; thus, avoiding confusion between the two.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retronym|title=Retronym - Definition of Retronym by Merriam-Webster|publisher=Merriam-Webster|access-date=2020-10-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=Webster's Online Dictionary|title=Retronym|url=http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/retronym#922|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120143414/http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/retronym#922|archive-date=2013-01-20|access-date=2010-03-10}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The term ''retronym'', a [[neologism]] composed of the [[classical compound|combining forms]] ''[[wikt:retro-#Prefix|retro-]]'' (from Latin {{lang|la|retro}},<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/retro#Latin|title=retro - Wiktionary|website=en.wiktionary.org|access-date=2019-10-11}}</ref> "before") + ''[[wikt:-nym#Suffix|-nym]]'' (from Greek {{lang|el-latn|[[ónoma]]}}, "name"), was coined by [[Frank Mankiewicz]] in 1980 and popularized by [[William Safire]] in ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]''.<ref name=safire2>{{cite news|first=William|last=Safire|author-link=William Safire|title=Retronym|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/magazine/07wwln_safire.t.html |work=New York Times Magazine|date=January 7, 2007|access-date=2015-08-01}}</ref><ref name=safire1/>

In 2000, ''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|The American Heritage Dictionary]]'' (4th edition) became the first major dictionary to include the word ''retronym''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.madison.com/wisconsinstatejournal/features/61879.php|title=New words for old times|last=Smith|first=Lyrysa|date=November 23, 2003|newspaper=[[Wisconsin State Journal]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428112244/http://www.madison.com/wisconsinstatejournal/features/61879.php|archive-date=April 28, 2008|access-date=March 20, 2011}}</ref>

== Examples ==
{{Main article|List of retronyms}}
[[File:Trucks and cars in Popular Mechanics 1914 v22 n5 p699.png|thumb|This column about "trucks and cars" from ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'' in 1914 was written when the word ''truck'' did not necessarily connote a [[truck|motor truck]] or the word ''car'' a [[car|motor car]]. The same things today would most likely be respectively called ''[[hand truck]]s'' and ''[[railroad car]]s'', terms that existed in 1914 but were not yet required for clarity.]]
The global war from 1914 to 1918 was referred to at the time as the ''Great War''. However, after the subsequent global war erupted in 1939, the phrase ''Great War'' was gradually deprecated. The first came to be known as ''[[World War I]]'' and the second as ''[[World War II]]''.

The first bicycles with two wheels of equal size were called "[[safety bicycle]]s" because they were easier to handle than the then-dominant style that had one large wheel and one small wheel, which then became known as an "ordinary" bicycle.<ref name="Wheelmen">{{cite web|url=http://www.thewheelmen.org/sections/faq/faq.asp#9|title= FAQ: What do you call high wheel bicycles? |website=The Wheelmen |access-date=2009-01-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207062050/http://www.thewheelmen.org/sections/faq/faq.asp#9 |archive-date= Feb 7, 2009 }}</ref> Since the end of the 19th century, most bicycles have been expected to have two equal-sized wheels, and the other type has been renamed "[[penny-farthing]]" or "high-wheeler" bicycle.<ref name="OED">{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/high-wheeler |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322182020/https://www.lexico.com/definition/high-wheeler |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-03-22 |title=high-wheeler |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}} </ref>

The [[Atari 2600|Atari Video Computer System]] platform was rebranded the "Atari 2600" (after its product code, CX-2600) in 1982 following the launch of its successor, the [[Atari 5200]], and all hardware and software related to the platform were released under this new branding from that point on. Prior to that time, Atari often used the initialism "VCS" in official literature and other media, but colloquially the Video Computer System was often simply called "the Atari."<ref>Two usage examples are "Would you like to come over and play my Atari?" and "This Atari has gum in the cartridge slot, so it can't be played."</ref>

The television series ''[[Star Trek]]'' became known as ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' to distinguish it from its [[Star Trek (franchise)|franchise]]. <ref name=tos>{{cite news|last=Strauss|first=Larry |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/220272918/|title=Trekkers' paradise found on local TV|newspaper=News-Press|location=[[Fort Myers, Florida]]|page=E1|via=newspapers.com|date=September 3, 1998|access-date=September 5, 2019|url-access=subscription|quote=(Strauss:) ... thanks ... to the Sci-Fi Channel ... which brought the original series back to TV Tuesday night. Dubbed 'Star Trek: The Original Series', scenes that were cut from episodes that aired in syndication have been restored, and shows have been digitally remastered and color-corrected.|archive-date=September 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905191359/https://www.newspapers.com/image/220272918/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The first film in the [[Star Wars]] franchise released in 1977 was simply titled ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''. It was given the subtitle "Episode IV: A New Hope" for its 1981 theatrical re-release, shortly after the release of its sequel ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'' in 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Britt|first=Ryan|title=When Did 'Star Wars' Become 'A New Hope?' 37 Years Ago, Everything Changed|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/43533-star-wars-a-new-hope-title-change-episode-iv-1981-1977|access-date=2020-09-05|website=Inverse|date=11 April 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Initially, this subtitle was limited to the opening text crawl, as all three films in the [[original Star Wars trilogy]] (''Star Wars'', ''The Empire Strikes Back'', and ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'') were still sold under their original theatrical titles on home media formats (such as VHS and Laserdisc). It was not until their 2004 DVD releases that the titles of the individual three films were changed to follow the same titling pattern as the [[Star Wars prequel trilogy]] (e.g. ''Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope'').

In the 1990s, when the Internet became widely popular and [[email]] accounts' instant delivery common, mail carried by the [[Mail|postal service]] came to be called "[[wikt:snail mail|snail mail]]" for its slower delivery compared to email.

Advances in technology and science are often responsible for the coinage of retronyms. For example, the term [[acoustic guitar]] was coined with the advent of the [[electric guitar]],<ref name="safire2" /> [[analog watch]] was introduced to distinguish from the [[digital watch]],<ref name="safire1">{{cite news|first=William|last=Safire|author-link=William Safire|title=Retronym Watch|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEEDB153AF932A35752C1A964958260| newspaper = New York Times Magazine|date=November 1, 1992|access-date=2008-07-25}}</ref> [[push bike]] was created to distinguish from the [[motorized bicycle]], and [[feature phone]] was coined to distinguish from the [[smartphone]]. Likewise, [[visible light]] refers to [[electromagnetic radiation]] on the narrow [[visible spectrum]], and [[Ice|water ice]] was coined to distinguish the solid state of [[water]] (including exotic forms) from the solid state of other [[Volatile_(astrogeology)|volatiles]] such as carbon dioxide and argon.

== See also ==
* [[Back-formation]]
* [[Backronym]]
* [[Contrastive focus reduplication]]
* [[Markedness]]
* [[-onym]]
* [[Protologism]]

== References ==
{{wiktionary|retronym}}
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Semantics]]
[[Category:Neologisms]]
[[Category:Types of words]]
[[Category:Semantic relations]]

Retronym - Revision history

imported>Paradoctor: Undid revision 1322666258 by ~2025-34117-56 (talk): "newer" is not the same as "new", mammoths are newer than dinos,yet they are not nw