Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·The Victorian portmanteau ·1849
Oxbridge
Oxford Cambridge
- Meaning
- The two ancient English universities considered together as a single elite institution.
- Source words
- Oxford + Cambridge
- Coined by
- William Makepeace Thackeray
- Year
- 1849
Background
Coined in *The History of Pendennis* as a jocular university name. The rival blend "Camford" appeared in the same book but never stuck — Oxbridge is now standard in British journalism.
The Victorian portmanteau
Lewis Carroll didn't invent portmanteau-making, but he named the technique and demonstrated it with enough flair that the word-class is often traced to him. Two of the words here are direct Carroll coinages.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.