Definitions for back-formation
back-for·ma·tion

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. back-formationnoun

   a word invented (usually unwittingly by subtracting an affix) on the assumption that a familiar word derives from it

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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.

2. back-formationnoun

   A word created in this way.

   Back-formations, such as "tambour" (for "play the tambourine"), are a staple of comedic wordplay.

3. Etymology: Coined by James Murray; back + formation

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. 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".

WikidataRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. 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

1. • Word

How to pronounce back-formation?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say back-formation in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of back-formation in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of back-formation in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=back-formation
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Back-Formation
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-Formation
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=back-formation