Back-formation refers to either the process of creating a new lexeme (less precisely, a new "word") by removing actual or supposed affixes, or to the neologism formed by such a process. Back-formations are shortened words created from longer words, thus back-formations may be viewed as a sub-type of clipping.
Each back-formation in this list is followed by the original word from which it was back-formed.
Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
- aborigine as a mistaken singular for aborigines (correct Latin singular is aboriginal)[1]
- accrete from accretion (root: accrescere)[2]
- acculturate from acculturation[2]
- admix from admixt[3]
- admixture from admix[1]
- adsorb from adsorption[1]
- adolesce from adolescence[1]
- adulate from adulation[3]
- advect from advection[3]
- aesthete from aesthetic[2]
- air-condition from air conditioning[2]
- anticline from anticlinal[4]
- attrit from attrition[4]
- auto-destruct from auto-destruction (cf. auto-destroy)
- automate from automation[2]
- aviate from aviation[2]
B
- babysit from babysitter[2]
- back-form from back-formation
- bartend from bartender[4]
- benefact from benefactor (and also the derived benefactee, cf. benefactor)
- bibliograph from bibliography
- bicep from biceps (non-standard)[2]
- biograph from biography
- blockbust from blockbuster[4]
- book-keep from book-keeping
- brainwash from brainwashing[4]
- bulldoze from bulldozer[4]
- bum possibly from bummer[4]
- burgle from burglar[4]
- bus ("to clear dirty dishes from table") from busboy[4]
- bushwhack from bushwhacker[4]
- buttle from butler[4]
C
- cadge from cadger[2]
- caretake from caretaker
- chemist from alchemist
- cavitate from cavitation[1]
- cherry from Old French cerise, treated as English plural[4]
- Chess (river) from Chesham
- choate from inchoate
- choreograph from choreography[4]
- claustrophobe from claustrophobia
- cohese from cohesion (cf. cohere)
- commentate from commentator[4]
- committal from non-committal
- complicit from complicity[3]
- computerize from computerized
- congratulation from congratulations
- contracept from contraception (cf. rare contraceive)
- contrapt from contraption
- convect from convection[2]
- conversate from conversation or conversing[5]
- cose from cosy
- couth from uncouth[2]
- co-vary from covariation
- crank (noun) from cranky
- creep (as a noun for a person) from creepy
- cross multiply from cross multiplication
- cross-refer from cross-reference[6]
- curate from curator[3]
- custom-make from custom-made
D
- dapple from dappled[4]
- darkle from darkling[2]
- decadent from decadence[2]
- deconstruct from deconstruction[4]
- dedifferentiate from dedifferentiation[4]
- demarcate from demarcation[2]
- destruct from destruction[4]
- diagnose from diagnosis[2]
- diffract from diffraction[2]
- dinge from dingy[2]
- diplomat from diplomatic[4]
- dishevel from disheveled[2]
- donate from donation[2]
- drear from dreary
- drowse from drowsy (possibly a backformation)
- dry-clean from dry cleaning[4]
E
- eave from eaves[6]
- eavesdrop from eavesdropper[2]
- edit from editor (from Latin stem edere, to bring forth)[1][2]
- electrocute from electrocution[2]
- elocute from elocution[6]
- emote from emotion[4]
- enthuse from enthusiasm[4]
- escalate from escalator[4]
- eutrophicate from eutrophication
- evaluate from evaluation[2]
- extrapose from extraposition[4]
F
- fine-tune from fine tuning[6]
- flab from flabby[2]
- flappable from unflappable[4]
- flake ("eccentric person") from flaky
- floss ("to show off") from flossy[6]
- fluoresce from fluorescence[2]
- fragmentate from fragmentation[4]
- free-associate from free association (backformed adjective-verb compound)
- funk (quality of music) from funky[3]
G
- gamble from gambler[2]
- gestate from gestation[2]
- ghostwrite from ghostwriter[2]
- gid from giddy[2]
- gnarl from gnarled[4]
- godsend from god-sent[2]
- greed from greedy (the noun was originally "greediness")[4]
- grid from gridiron[2]
- grovel from groveling[2]
- grunge from grungy[2]
- gruntle from disgruntle[2]
H
- handwrite from handwriting[2]
- hard-boil from hard-boiled[2]
- hawk (meaning "to sell") from hawker[4]
- haze from hazy[2]
- headhunt from headhunter
- headquarter from headquarters[4]
- helicopt from helicopter
- housebreak from housebroken[2]
- houseclean from housecleaning[2]
- housekeep from housekeeper[2]
I
- ideologue from ideology[2]
- incent from incentive[3]
- indice from indices (cf. index)
- injure from injury[4]
- intercept from interception (possibly a backformation)
- interfluve from interfluvial[4]
- interlineate from interlinear
- intuit from intuition[4]
- isolate from isolated[2]
J
K
L
- lase from laser[2]
- laze from lazy[2]
- legislate from legislator[2]
- letch from lecher[4]
- liaise from liaison[2]
- loaf (meaning "to be idle") from loafer[4]
- logroll from logrolling[4]
- luminesce from luminescent[4]
M
- manipulate from manipulation[2]
- mase from maser
- mix from mixt (adj. from Old French, misconstrued as past participle of verb)[2]
- mottle from motley[2]
- moonlight (the verb, work on second job) from moonlighter[2]
- multimillion from multimillionaire
N
O
- obsess (meaning "to behave obsessively") from obsessive
- one-up or one-upman from one-upmanship[2]
- opine from opinion[1]
- orate from oration[2]
- orientate from orientation
P
- panhandle (meaning "to accost") from panhandler[4]
- paramedic from paramedical
- partake from partaker[2]
- pea from Middle English pease[7]
- peddle from peddler[2]
- peeve from peevish[2]
- pettifog from pettifogger[4]
- phosphoresce from phosphorescent[2]
- pleb from plebs
- preempt from preemption[2]
- presentate from presentation
- process from procession[7]
- prodigal from prodigality[4]
- proliferate from proliferation[2]
- proofread from proofreader[4]
Q
- quadrumvir from quadrumvirate[2]
- quantitate from quantitative
R
- raunch from raunchy[2]
- reminisce from reminiscence[2]
- resurrect from resurrection[2]
- rotovate from rotovator
S
- sass (impudence) from sassy[4]
- sculpt from sculptor[4]
- secrete (meaning "to produce and emit") from secretion[2]
- secretive from secretiveness[2]
- sedate (the verb) from sedative[3]
- self-destruct from self-destruction (cf. self-destroy)[3]
- semantic (adjective) from semantics
- sharecrop from sharecropper[2]
- shoplift from shoplifter[2]
- sightsee from sightseeing[4]
- sipid from insipid[4]
- sleaze from sleazy[2]
- sleepwalk from sleepwalking[4]
- smarm from smarmy[2]
- sorb from sorption (also a back-formation)
- soft-land from soft landing (backformed adjective-noun compound)
- sorption from adsorption and absorption[2]
- spectate from spectator[4]
- stargaze from stargazer[2]
- stave (the noun) from staves[2]
- steamroll from steamroller[4]
- stridulate from stridulation[2]
- suckle from suckling[2]
- sulk from sulky[2]
- summate from summation[2]
- sunburn (the verb) from sunburned[2]
- superannuate from superannuated[2]
- surreal from surrealism[4]
- surveil from surveillance[4]
- swashbuckle from swashbuckler[2]
- swindle from swindler[4]
- syncline from synclinal[4]
T
- tase from Taser
- televise from television[4]
- tongue-lash from tongue-lashing[2]
- transcript (verb) from transcription (cf. verb transcribe)
- tricep from triceps (non-standard)
- trickle-irrigate from trickle-irrigation (possibly backformed from verb-noun compound but may also be verb-verb compound)
- tweeze from tweezers[4]
- typewrite from typewriter[2]
U
- upholster from upholstery[2]
V
- vaccinate from vaccination[4]
- vend as in vend out (meaning to contract out to a vendor), derived from vendor
- vinify from vinification[2]
- vivisect from vivisection[2]
W
- wiretap from wiretapper[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas (2001), Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com, retrieved 9 November 2009
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2009, http://www.merriam-webster.com, retrieved 9 November 2009
- ^ a b c d e f g h i The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Houghton Mifflin Company), 2009, http://dictionary.reference.com, retrieved 9 November 2009
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (Random House, Inc.), 2009, http://dictionary.reference.com, retrieved 9 November 2009
- ^ Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon (Dictionary.com, LLC), 2003-2009, http://www.dictionary.reference.com, retrieved 9 November 2009
- ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press), 2009, http://oed.com
- ^ a b Webster's New World College Dictionary, YourDictionary.com, http://www.yourdictionary.com, retrieved 9 November 2009
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