Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Mid-century: TV and science ·1958
Televangelist
television evangelist
- Meaning
- A preacher whose ministry is conducted primarily on television.
- Source words
- television + evangelist
- Coined by
- US journalism
- Year
- 1958
Background
The word predates the 1980s boom in televised ministries by a generation — it described Oral Roberts's 1950s broadcasts before the genre had a clearer genre name.
Mid-century: TV and science
Two engines dominated: television (sitcom, televangelist) and post-war big science (pulsar, transistor). Many mid-century coinages came from scientific style sheets and industry journals.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.