Blend

In linguistics, a blend is a word formed from parts of two other words. These parts are sometimes, but not always, morphemes.

A blend is different from a portmanteau word in that a portmanteau refers strictly to a blending of two function words, similar to a contraction.

When two words are combined in their entirety, the result is considered a compound word rather than a blend. For example, bagpipe is a compound, not a blend, of bag and pipe.

Some languages, like Japanese, encourage the shortening and merging of borrowed foreign words (as in gairaigo), because they are long or difficult to pronounce in the target language. For example, karaoke, a combination of the Japanese word kara (meaning empty) and the clipped form oke of the English loanword "orchestra" (J. ōkesutora オーケストラ), is a Japanese blend that has entered the English language. (From the article gairaigo.)

Many corporate brand names, trademarks, and initiatives, as well as names of corporations and organizations themselves, are blends. For example, Wiktionary, one of Wikipedia's sister projects, is a blend of wiki and dictionary. Also, Nabisco is a blend of the initial syllables of National Biscuit Company.

In the 21st Century, tabloid writers often blend the first names of famous couples. Some examples include Bennifer (for both Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, and Affleck and Jennifer Garner) and TomKat (for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes).