Neoterm or neologism? A closer look at the determinologisation process

This paper arises within the current communication urgency experienced through-out the pandemic. From its onset, several new lexical units have permeated the over-all media discourse, as well as social media and other channels. These units conveyinformation to the public regarding the ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome’ namely COVID-19. In addition to its worldwide impact healthwise, the pandemic generates noteworthy influence in the linguistic landscape, and as a result, a significant number of neologisms have emerged. Within the scope of our ongoing research, we identify the neologisms in European Portuguese that are related to the term COVID-19 via form or meaning. However, not all the new lexical units identified in our corpus containing COVID-19 in its formation can unequivocally be regarded as neoterms (terminological neologisms). Accordingly, this article aims not only to reflect on thedistinction between neologism and neoterm but also to explore the determinologisa-tion process that several of these new lexical units experience.