When creating a fantasy world, I like to use some invented words. A different world, especially one with magic, would not grow quite the same as ours and would develop different words. Having invented words distinguishes my fantasy world from reality.

When creating words for my fantasy world, I prefer using either homophonous spellings or words describing the item, so my invented words are not too confusing. I like to replace words borrowed from foreign languages or words with specific meanings/flavors.

Because I love food, I often have my characters eating. (A reflection of my real life as my friends and coworkers can attest.) As you can see below, most of my invented words are either drinks or food.

Invented Words for Damensea:

Drinks

kahve = coffee
shokolat / shoko = chocolate / cocoa
mentha tea = mint tea
khamomile tea = chamomile tea
sparkling wine = champagne
spiritwine = brandy

Food

lymon = lemon
starpeach = fruit similar to peach but star-shaped
nutbread = similar to banana nut bread
sweet biscuits = cookies (like the British but with “sweet”)
massapan = marzipan
whitekrab / redkrab soup = cream of crab / Maryland crab soup

Other

Longnight = holiday similar to Yule/Christmas
gamesroom = billiard room
elementball = game similar to pool but no cue
pocketcloth = handkerchief
pulp-clay = papier-mâché
not rouse sleeping dragons = let sleeping dogs lie

As I write more stories about Damensea, this list of invented words will no doubt grow, so watch for new ones!