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Definition of Back-formation in English :

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Back-formation meaning in English

Meaning of Back-formation in English

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Back-formation pronunciation in English

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Back-formation

see synonyms of back-formation

Noun

1. back-formation

a word invented (usually unwittingly by subtracting an affix) on the assumption that a familiar word derives from it

WordNet Lexical Database for English. Princeton University. 2010.

Back-formation

see synonyms of back-formation
noun
1. 
the invention of a new word on the assumption that a familiar word is derived from it. The verbs edit and burgle were so created from editor and burglar
2. 
a word formed by this process

Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

Back-formation

see synonyms of back-formation
noun
1. 
a word actually formed from, but seeming to be the base of, another word (Ex.: burgle from burglar)
2. 
the process of forming such a word

Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

Back-formation

see synonyms of back-formation
n.
1. A new word created by removing an affix from an already existing word, as vacuum clean from vacuum cleaner, or by removing what is mistakenly thought to be an affix, as bicep from the English plural biceps.
2. The process of forming words in this way.

The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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