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back-formation

noun
/ˌbæk.fɔːˈmeɪ̯.ʃən/UK/ˌbæk.foɹˈmeɪ̯.ʃən/CA/ˌbæk.foːˈmæɪ̯.ʃən/

Etymology

From back- + formation. Coined by British lexicographer and philologist, primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary James Murray in 1888.

  1. derived from Dictionary James Murray in 1888

Definitions

  1. The process by which a new word is formed from an older word by interpreting the former…

    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. A word created in this way.

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

The neighborhood

Derived

back-form, back-formed

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for back-formation. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA