adman
UK[ˈædmən]US[ˈædmən]
n
a man who works in advertising, especially one who creates advertisements.
Morpheme Breakdown
ad
man
ad
advertisement
man
person
Etymology
the word 'adman' is a modern compound formed in the early 20th century. its first element, 'ad', is a clipped form of 'advertisement', which itself derives from latin 'advertere', meaning 'to turn one's attention to'. the second element, 'man', is a common germanic noun for a person, used here in a gender-specific sense common to the era of its coinage. the term literally denotes a 'person involved with advertisements', reflecting the straightforward compounding process in english where a shortened form of a word is combined with a common agent noun to create a new occupational title.
Analysis
Structure: ad (advertisement) + man (person)
- ad: a clipping of the word "advertisement", originating from latin 'advertere' meaning 'to turn toward'.
- man: from old english 'mann', meaning 'person, human being', of germanic origin.
Examples
the veteran adman came up with a catchy slogan for the new product.
he worked his way up from a copywriter to a successful adman.
the conference was attended by several leading admen from major agencies.