back-formation
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English
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Alternative forms
Etymology
Coined by Scottish lexicographer and philologist James Murray in 1889; from back- + formation.
Noun
back-formation (countable and uncountable, plural back-formations)
- (uncountable, linguistics) The process by which a new word is formed from an older word by interpreting the former as a derivative of the latter, often by removing a morpheme (real or perceived) from the older word, such as the verb burgle, formed by removing -ar (perceived as an agent-noun suffix) from burglar.
- (countable) A word created in this way.
- Synonym: back-form
- Back-formations, such as "tambour" (for "play the tambourine"), are a staple of comedic wordplay.
Derived terms
Translations
linguistic process
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word formed by this linguistic process
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