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Curated category

1840s neologisms

  • PsychosisIn 1841, Karl Friedrich Canstatt introduced the word psychosis into psychiatric literature as a shorthand for psychic neurosis.
  • PsychopathyIn 1941, American psychiatrist Hervey M. Cleckley published a book titled The Mask of Sanity that described patients at a Veterans Administration hospital in…
  • CenozoicBritish geologist John Phillips proposed the name Kainozoic in 1840. He derived this term from Ancient Greek words meaning new life.
  • Manifest destinyJohn L. O'Sullivan wrote an article in 1845 that first used the phrase manifest destiny to describe American expansion. The Democratic Review published this…
  • Drang nach OstenPolish journalist Julian Klaczko wrote the phrase Drang nach Osten in 1849. He used it as a citation within his reporting on German expansionist tendencies.
  • FolkloreIn 1846, an Englishman named William Thoms published a letter in a journal called The Athenaeum. He proposed the word folklore to replace older phrases like…