back-formation

• backformation, back formation

From back- + formation. Coined by British lexicographer and philologist, primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary James Murray in 1888.^[1]

• enPR: băk′fôr-mā′shən
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌbæk.fɔːˈmeɪ̯.ʃən/, /ˌbak.fɔːˈmeɪ̯.ʃən/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌbæk.foɹˈmeɪ̯.ʃən/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌbæk.foːˈmæɪ̯.ʃən/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˌbɛk.foːˈmæɪ̯.ʃən/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˌbak.fɔɾˈme.ʃən/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˌba(ː)k.fɔː(ɾ)ˈmeː.ʃon/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən
• Hyphenation: back-for‧ma‧tion

back-formation (countable and uncountable, plural back-formations)

2. (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.
4. (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.

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

• “back-formation”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.