preformative

English

Etymology

From pre- (prefix meaning ‘before; physically in front of’) +‎ formative, modelled after Late Latin praeformativus (originally used in relation to the grammar of Semitic languages).[1]

Noun

preformative (plural preformatives)

  1. (chiefly in Semitic languages) a formative letter, syllable, etc., at the beginning of a word.
    Synonym: preformant
    • 1828, Moses Stuart, A Grammar of the Hebrew Language:
      Ch. a prefix prep. as in Hebrew, the sign of the dative; also of the genitive and accusative; and as a conj. before the future, which then rejects the preformative, that

Coordinate terms

Translations

Adjective

preformative (not comparable)

  1. Of or pertaining to preformation.
  2. Of a thing: forming or affecting something that comes later.
  3. (grammar, chiefly in Semitic languages) of a letter, syllable, etc.: attached to the beginning of a word as a formative element.

Translations

References
  1. “preformative, n. and adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2007; “preformative, n. and adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Anagrams
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