what is it called when you combine two words
active oldest votes. up vote 19 down vote accepted. In linguistics, a blend word is a word formed from parts of two or more other words. The process is called blending and the result is a blend word. A portmanteau word typically combines both sounds and meanings, as in smog, coined by blending smoke and fog. More generally, it may refer to any term or phrase that combines two or more meanings, for instance, the term wurly when describing hair that is both wavy and curly.