back-formations
Words from subtraction
Back-formations are words created by removing what looks like a suffix from an existing word.
English speakers assumed "editor" must come from a verb, so they created "edit" by dropping the "-or." Similarly, "burgle" came from "burglar," "enthuse" from "enthusiasm," and "liaise" from "liaison." The process reverses normal word-building, where suffixes get added rather than subtracted.
Piece cut out
- derivationSource or origin tracing
- neologismNewly created expression
- coinageInvented term or currency
- etymologyWord origin study
morphology · reanalysis · analogy · suffixation · prefixation · productivity · morpheme · stem
Modify written material
- televiseBroadcast by video
- burgleSteal from a building
- donateGive to charity
- enthuseExpress eager excitement
liaise · sculpt · peddle · babysit · housekeep · buttle · emote · laze
Studying something again
- subtractionRemoving quantities mathematically
- pattern recognitionIdentifying regularities in inputs
- deadjectivalFormed from a descriptor
- productivityOutput relative to input
clipping
Piece cut out
- derivationSource or origin tracing
- neologismNewly created expression
- coinageInvented term or currency
etymology · morphology · reanalysis · analogy · suffixation · prefixation · productivity · morpheme · stem · lexeme
edit
Modify written material
enthuse · liaise · sculpt · peddle · babysit · housekeep · buttle · emote · laze · orate
reanalysis
Studying something again
- subtractionRemoving quantities mathematically
- pattern recognitionIdentifying regularities in inputs
- deadjectivalFormed from a descriptor
- vocabularyword, words, new words, term, terms
- dialectsregional dialect, local dialect, patois, vernaculars, vernacular
- dictionary elementsheadwords, entries, definitions, lemmas, etymologies
- word partsroot, stem, base, prefix, suffix
back-formationssuffixation
Adding endings to words
prefixation · affixation · derivation · compounding · word coinage
back-formationscompounding
Elements merging progressively
blending · inflection · borrowing · agglutination · coinage
back, formation, formations, back-formation, form, forms, formed, forming, formative