Retronym

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term coined to distinguish an older version of something from a newer development that has since emerged ; a word or phrase created to clarify the original form after innovation occurs ; a label introduced after the fact to describe an object or concept in light of later changes
2. A descriptive expression invented because technological or societal advances made the original item no longer the default ; a phrase formed to specify an earlier iteration after alternatives appear ; a name assigned retroactively for clarity amid progress
3. A word or term introduced to clarify and specify an original item or concept once new alternatives exist ; an identifying label assigned in response to later developments ; a designation created to distinguish former types from subsequent ones

Etymology: Frank Mankiewicz, a American political operative and former press secretary to Robert F. Kennedy, is credited with coining "retronym" for a name that is created after a newer thing appears, so that the older thing needs a new label. The classic example is "acoustic guitar," which only needed that qualifier once electric guitars arrived. The word is built from the prefix "retro-," meaning backward, and "-onym," from Greek "onoma," meaning name, so it literally means a name pointing backward in time. William Safire, the New York Times language columnist, popularized the term in the 1980s, and returned to it in a 2007 column. The word itself is a modern coinage, which makes it a neat example of the thing it describes: it was needed to name a pattern that had long existed without a label.

Synonyms: back-formation, new term