Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Late 20th century ·1989
Nutraceutical
nutrition pharmaceutical
- Meaning
- A food or food supplement claimed to have medicinal benefits.
- Source words
- nutrition + pharmaceutical
- Coined by
- Stephen DeFelice
- Year
- 1989
Background
DeFelice, chairman of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine, coined the word to describe a proposed regulatory category between food and drugs. The category never got formal US recognition; the word stuck regardless.
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.
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