Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Contemporary (2000–) ·2003
Freegan
free vegan
- Meaning
- A person who obtains food by scavenging, typically on ethical grounds.
- Source words
- free + vegan
- Coined by
- Warren Oakes
- Year
- 2003
Background
Oakes, an American punk musician, distributed the zine *Why Freegan?* in 1999; the word entered mainstream press around 2003. Freeganism is explicitly anti-capitalist; many freegans eat meat scavenged from bins, contradicting the *-vegan* element.
Contemporary (2000–)
Faster coinage, faster canonisation. Brexit and podcast both reached the OED within a decade of first use — historically rapid. Social media has made visibility, not invention, the rate-limiting step.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.