What does back-formation mean?
Definitions for back-formation
back-for·ma·tion
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word back-formation.
Princeton's WordNet
back-formationnoun
a word invented (usually unwittingly by subtracting an affix) on the assumption that a familiar word derives from it
Wiktionary
back-formationnoun
The process by which a new word is formed by removing a morpheme (real or perceived) of an older word, such as the verb burgle, formed by removing -ar (perceived as a suffix forming an agent noun) from burglar.
back-formationnoun
A word created in this way.
Back-formations, such as "tambour" (for "play the tambourine"), are a staple of comedic wordplay.
Etymology: Coined by James Murray; back + formation
Wikipedia
Back-formation
In etymology, back-formation is the process or result of creating a new word via inflection, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes associated with the corresponding root word. The resulting is called a back-formation, a term coined by James Murray in 1889. (Oxford English Dictionary Online preserves its first use of 'back-formation' from 1889 in the definition of to burgle; from burglar.)For example, the noun resurrection was borrowed from Latin, and the verb resurrect was then back-formed hundreds of years later from it by removing the -ion suffix. This segmentation of resurrection into resurrect + ion was possible because English had examples of Latin words in the form of verb and verb+-ion pairs, such as opine/opinion. These became the pattern for many more such pairs, where a verb derived from a Latin supine stem and a noun ending in ion entered the language together, such as insert/insertion, project/projection, etc.
ChatGPT
back-formation
Back-formation is a linguistic phenomenon where a new word is formed by removing an actual, or often incorrectly assumed, affix from another word. It typically occurs when a shorter word is derived from a longer word. This process often results in the creation of a new verb from a noun or adjective form. For example, the verb "televise" is a back-formation from the noun "television".
Wikidata
Back-formation
In etymology, back-formation is the process of creating a new lexeme, usually by removing actual or supposed affixes. The resulting neologism is called a back-formation, a term coined by James Murray in 1889. Back-formation is different from clipping – back-formation may change the part of speech or the word's meaning, whereas clipping creates shortened words from longer words, but does not change the part of speech or the meaning of the word. For example, the noun resurrection was borrowed from Latin, and the verb resurrect was then backformed hundreds of years later from it by removing the ion suffix. This segmentation of resurrection into resurrect + ion was possible because English had examples of Latinate words in the form of verb and verb+-ion pairs, such as opine/opinion. These became the pattern for many more such pairs, where a verb derived from a Latin supine stem and a noun ending in ion entered the language together, such as insert/insertion, project/projection, etc. Back-formation may be similar to the reanalyses of folk etymologies when it rests on an erroneous understanding of the morphology of the longer word. For example, the singular noun asset is a back-formation from the plural assets. However, assets is originally not a plural; it is a loan-word from Anglo-Norman asetz. The -s was reanalyzed as a plural suffix.
Matched Categories
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of back-formation in Chaldean Numerology is: 2
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of back-formation in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2
Translations for back-formation
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- RückbildungGerman
- αναδρομικός σχηματισμόςGreek
- takaperoisjohto, takaperoisjohdosFinnish
- dérivation régressive, rétroformation, dérivation inverseFrench
- גזירה לאחורHebrew
- elvonásHungarian
- 逆成Japanese
- tilbakedanningNorwegian
- derywacja wstecznaPolish
- derivação regressivaPortuguese
- обра́тное словообразова́ниеRussian
- omvänd ordbildningSwedish
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"back-formation." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/back-formation>.
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