Paronymic attraction

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In etymology, including onomastics, paronymic attraction is the distorting effect exerted on a word by one of its paronyms (that is, a quasi-homonym). Paronymic attraction is the origin of many names. A common phenomenon, paronymic attraction is usually expressed through the replacement of a word whose meaning is not understood by a term designating a name (common or proper) or a common concept.

See also