Malapropism

A malapropism is the mistaken use of a word that resembles the intended word, often producing an unintended comic or absurd effect.

Paronym: A word that resembles another in sound or spelling but has a different meaning. Malapropisms substitute a paronym for the intended word.
Mrs. Malaprop: A character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1775 comedy The Rivals, known for misusing words that resemble the intended ones. Her comic substitutions gave malapropism its name.
Dogberry: A constable in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing who frequently misuses words. His verbal blunders are an early literary counterpart to Mrs. Malaprop's.
Eggcorn: A reinterpretation of a word or phrase that replaces it with a plausible-sounding expression of similar meaning. An eggcorn is a meaningful reinterpretation, while a malapropism usually produces an unintended mismatch.
Spoonerism: A speech error that swaps the initial sounds of two words. Unlike a malapropism, it rearranges sounds rather than substituting a similar-sounding word.
The Rivals: A 1775 comedy by Richard Brinsley Sheridan featuring the character Mrs. Malaprop. The play introduced the character most closely associated with the term.
Much Ado About Nothing: A comedy by William Shakespeare featuring the constable Dogberry. Dogberry's mistaken word choices make the play a canonical source of malapropisms.
Mondegreen: A mishearing of spoken or sung words that produces a different, often plausible phrase. A mondegreen arises from mishearing a phrase; a malapropism substitutes a word during expression.
Freudian slip: An unintended speech or writing error interpreted in psychoanalytic theory as expressing an unconscious thought. Both are verbal errors, but a Freudian slip is defined by its proposed psychological meaning.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan: An Irish playwright and politician whose comedy The Rivals introduced Mrs. Malaprop. Sheridan created the character whose name became the label for this verbal error.

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