English Explanatory Dictionary

eggcorn

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase either on its own or as part of a set expression

Pronunciation

/ˈɛɡkɔːn/ /ˈɛɡkɔɹn/ /ˈeɪɡkɔɹn/ en-au-eggcorn.ogg

Word forms

eggcorn eggcorns

Etymology

Suggested by British-American linguist Geoffrey K. Pullum following a discussion on the Language Log website on September 23, 2003, by American linguist Mark Liberman, about a woman who had long believed the word acorn to be egg corn.

Related words

folk etymology reanalysis rebracketing paronymic attraction catachresis malapropism misconstruction mondegreen Hobson-Jobson phono-semantic matching mishearing
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