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Definition of Back-formation
1. Noun. A word invented (usually unwittingly by subtracting an affix) on the assumption that a familiar word derives from it.
Definition of Back-formation
1. Noun. (context: uncountable linguistics) 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''. ¹
2. Noun. (context: countable) A word created in this way. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Back-formation
Literary usage of Back-formation
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage by Inc. Merriam-Webster (1994)
"back-formation is an active process of word-formation: the front matter of 12000
Words ... Verbs are not the only kinds of words produced by back-formation. ..."
2. Every-day Words and Their Uses: A Guide to Correct Diction by Robert Palfrey Utter (1916)
"back-formation. A supposed source-word which is really a derivative. The verb to
burgle is a back-formation from the noun burglar because it seems to be the ..."
3. The Making of English by Henry Bradley (1904)
"There are Back- formation and Shortening. back-formation. There are many words
in English which have a fallacious appearance of containing some well- known ..."
4. The Life and Stories of the Jaina Savior, Pārçvanātha by Aristophanes, Bhāvadevasūri, Richard Thomas Elliott, William Joseph Myles Starkie (1919)
"The ‘root' vi-kunv is clearly a Sanskrit back-formation of ... is a Sanskrit
back-formation from ..."
Other Resources:
