The American Heritage Dictionary defines retronym as “A word or phrase created because an existing term that was once used alone needs to be distinguished from a term referring to a new development, as acoustic guitar in contrast to electric guitar or analog watch in contrast to digital watch.”
To submit a retronym or for other relevant comments, email me. Enjoy !
| Retronym | ... | Protonym |
| acoustic guitar | ... | electric guitar |
| analog clock | ... | digital clock |
| analog computer | ... | digital computer |
| black-and-white television | ... | color television |
| broadcast network | ... | cable network |
| Classic Coke | ... | real coke |
| conventional oven | ... | microwave oven |
| conventional weapons | ... | nuclear | biological | chemical weapons |
| conscious mind | ... | unconscious mind |
| day game | ... | night game |
| eyeball search | ... | computer search |
| hardback | hardcover book | ... | paperback book |
| horse polo | ... | water polo |
| human-readable information | ... | computer-readable | machine-readable |
| ice skates | ... | roller skates |
| impact printer | ... | laser | inkjet printer |
| manual transmission | ... | automatic transmission |
| manual typewriter | ... | electric typewriter |
| natural language | ... | machine language |
| natural turf | ... | artificial turf |
| normal matter | ... | dark matter |
| offline tournament | ... | on-line tournament (seen on KasparovChess.com) |
| open-nib pen | ... | hooded-nib pen |
| optical telescope | ... | radio telescope |
| pBook (a.k.a. print | dead-tree edition) |
... | eBook |
| plain text | ... | machine | cypher text |
| propeller airplane | ... | jet airplane |
| regular coffee | ... | decaffeinated coffee |
| regular gas | petrol | ... | unleaded gas | petrol |
| silent movie | ... | talking movie |
| single-wide (trailer) | ... | double-wide (heard on National Public Radio (US) news 2003-07-06) |
| snail mail | ... | electronic mail |
| snow skiing | ... | water skiing |
| stage play | ... | radio play |
| straight razor | ... | safety razor |
| straight-up Martini | ... | all the various flavored types in different types of glasses |
| terrestrial television | ... | satellite television |
| two-parent family | ... | single-parent family |
| Type-I superconductor | ... | Type-II superconductor |
| whole milk | ... | skim milk |
| World War I | ... | World War II |
| ??? web | ... | wireless web (suggested by Howard STRAUSS 2000-09-14) |
Another type of retronym is formed when a word is spelled backwards to produce a new word, often with negative connotations. This is also known as a reversal.