back-formation

English
Examples (back-formation)

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)

  1. (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.
  2. (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

See also
  • disfixation
  • Category:Back-formations by language
  • Category:English back-formations
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