Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Late 20th century ·1984
Cosplay
costume play
- Meaning
- Dressing as a character from fiction, especially at conventions.
- Source words
- costume + play
- Coined by
- Nobuyuki Takahashi
- Year
- 1984
Background
Coined in Japanese (コスプレ, kosupure) by game designer Takahashi after he attended Worldcon in Los Angeles. The word reentered English via anime fandom in the 1990s.
Late 20th century
Marketing, media, and the early internet. Infomercial, emoticon, workaholic — the coinages name phenomena of mass media and white-collar life. Several predate the decades they're associated with.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.