Retronym


A retronym is a newer name for an existing thing that differentiates the original form/version from a more recent one. It is thus a word or phrase created to avoid confusion between two types, whereas previously, no clarification was required.
Advances in technology are often responsible for the coinage of retronyms. For example, the term "acoustic guitar" was coined with the advent of electric guitars; analog watches were renamed to distinguish them from digital watches once the latter were invented; association football, rugby football, and gridiron football were coined to distinguish types of football; and "push bike" was created to distinguish from motorbikes and motorized bicycles.

Examples

The first bicycles with two wheels of equal size were called "safety bicycles" because they were easier to handle than the then-dominant style that had one large wheel and one small wheel, which then became known as an "ordinary" bicycle. Since the end of the 19th century, most bicycles have been expected to have two equal sized wheels, and the other type has been renamed "penny-farthing" or "high-wheeler" bicycle.
The Atari Video Computer System platform was rebranded the "Atari 2600" in 1982 following the launch of its successor, the Atari 5200, and all hardware and software related to the platform were released under this new branding from that point on.
The original Game Boy was referred to as "Game Boy Classic" after the release of Game Boy Color. Another game console example is the original Xbox being referred to as the "Xbox 1" prior to the release of the Xbox One. After the Xbox One released, the first Xbox has been commonly referred to as the "original Xbox" instead.

Etymology

The term retronym, a neologism composed of the combining forms ' + ', was coined by Frank Mankiewicz in 1980 and popularized by William Safire in The New York Times Magazine.
In 2000 The American Heritage Dictionary became the first major dictionary to include the word retronym''.