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Malapropism

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mal⋅a⋅prop⋅ism

  [mal-uh-prop-iz-uhm]
Use Malapropism in a Sentence
–noun
1. an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, esp. by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.
2. an instance of this, as in “Lead the way and we'll precede.”
Origin:
1840–50; Malaprop + -ism

Related forms:
mal⋅a⋅prop⋅is⋅tic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mal·a·prop·ism   (māl'ə-prŏp-ĭz'əm)   
n.  
  1. Ludicrous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound.
  2. An example of such misuse.

[From malaprop.]
mal'a·prop'i·an (-prŏp'ē-ən) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Malapropism

Mal"a*prop*ism\, n. [From Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Sheridan's drama, " The Rivals," who makes amusing blunders in her use of words. See Malapropos.] A grotesque misuse of a word; a word so used.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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malapropism [(mal-uh-prop-iz-uhm)]

A humorous confusion of words that sound vaguely similar, as in “We have just ended our physical year” instead of “We have just ended our fiscal year.”

Note: Mrs. Malaprop, a character in an eighteenth-century British comedy, The Rivals, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, constantly confuses words. Malapropisms are named after her.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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malapropism 
1849, from Mrs. Malaprop, character in Sheridan's play "The Rivals" (1775), noted for her ridiculous misuse of large words (i.e. "contagious countries" for "contiguous countries"), her name coined from malapropos (adv.), 1668, a borrowing from Fr. mal à propos "inopportunely, inappropriately," lit. "badly for the purpose," from mal (see mal-) + proposer "propose."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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malapropism

verbal blunder in which one word is replaced by another similar in sound but different in meaning. Although William Shakespeare had used the device for comic effect, the term derives from Richard Brinsley Sheridan's character Mrs. Malaprop, in his play The Rivals (1775). Her name is taken from the term malapropos (French: "inappropriate") and is typical of Sheridan's practice of concocting names to indicate the essence of a character. Thinking of the geography of contiguous countries, she spoke of the "geometry" of "contagious countries," and hoped that her daughter might "reprehend" the true meaning of what she is saying. She regretted that her "affluence" over her niece was very small

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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