"back-formation" meaning in All languages combined

See back-formation on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Forms: back-formations [plural]
Etymology: Coined by Scottish lexicographer and philologist James Murray in 1889; from back- + formation. Etymology templates: {{coin|en|James Murray|in=1889|nat=Scottish|occ=lexicographer|occ2=philologist|w=James Murray (lexicographer)}} Coined by Scottish lexicographer and philologist James Murray in 1889, {{pre|en|back-|formation}} back- + formation Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} back-formation (countable and uncountable, plural back-formations)
  1. (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. Tags: uncountable Categories (topical): Linguistics Translations (linguistic process): اشْتِقَاق عَكْسِيّ (ištiqāq ʕaksiyy) [masculine] (Arabic), subtraktionsdannelse [common-gender] (Danish), terugvorming (Dutch), retrodeveno (Esperanto), takaperoisjohto (Finnish), dérivation inverse [feminine] (French), rétroformation [feminine] (French), Rückbildung [feminine] (German), αναδρομικός σχηματισμός (anadromikós schimatismós) [masculine] (Greek), גזירה לאחור (Hebrew), elvonás (Hungarian), szóelvonás (Hungarian), retroformazione (Italian), 逆成 (gyakusei) (alt: ぎゃくせい) (Japanese), tilbakedannelse [masculine] (Norwegian Bokmål), tilbakedanning [common-gender] (Norwegian Bokmål), derywacja wsteczna [feminine] (Polish), derivação regressiva [feminine] (Portuguese), derivare regresivă [feminine] (Romanian), обра́тное словообразова́ние (obrátnoje slovoobrazovánije) [neuter] (Russian), derivación regresiva [feminine] (Spanish), omvänd ordbildning (Swedish), phái sinh ngược (Vietnamese), ôl-ffurfiad [masculine] (Welsh) Translations (word formed by this linguistic process): مُشْتَقَّة عَكْسِيًّا (alt: muštaqqa(t) ʕaksiyyan) [feminine] (Arabic), subtraktionsdannelse [common-gender] (Danish), takaperoisjohdos (Finnish), elvonás (Hungarian), tilbakedannelse [masculine] (Norwegian Bokmål), tilbakedanning [common-gender] (Norwegian Bokmål), derivado regresivo [masculine] (Spanish), ôl-ffurf [feminine] (Welsh)
    Sense id: en-back-formation-en-noun-8EbIkGf8 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms prefixed with back- Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 68 32 Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with back-: 50 50 Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences Disambiguation of 'linguistic process': 98 2 Disambiguation of 'word formed by this linguistic process': 62 38
  2. (countable) A word created in this way. Tags: countable Synonyms: back-form
    Sense id: en-back-formation-en-noun-ya0RywDV Categories (other): English terms prefixed with back- Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with back-: 50 50
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: backformation, back formation Derived forms: back-form Related terms: disfixation

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for back-formation meaning in All languages combined (7.5kB)

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "back-form"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "James Murray",
        "in": "1889",
        "nat": "Scottish",
        "occ": "lexicographer",
        "occ2": "philologist",
        "w": "James Murray (lexicographer)"
      },
      "expansion": "Coined by Scottish lexicographer and philologist James Murray in 1889",
      "name": "coin"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "back-",
        "3": "formation"
      },
      "expansion": "back- + formation",
      "name": "pre"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Coined by Scottish lexicographer and philologist James Murray in 1889; from back- + formation.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "back-formations",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "back-formation (countable and uncountable, plural back-formations)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "disfixation"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Linguistics",
          "orig": "en:Linguistics",
          "parents": [
            "Language",
            "Social sciences",
            "Communication",
            "Sciences",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "68 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with back-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "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."
      ],
      "id": "en-back-formation-en-noun-8EbIkGf8",
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
        ],
        [
          "morpheme",
          "morpheme"
        ],
        [
          "burgle",
          "burgle"
        ],
        [
          "agent-noun",
          "agent noun"
        ],
        [
          "suffix",
          "suffix"
        ],
        [
          "burglar",
          "burglar"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(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."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "ištiqāq ʕaksiyy",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "اشْتِقَاق عَكْسِيّ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "subtraktionsdannelse"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "word": "terugvorming"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "word": "retrodeveno"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "word": "takaperoisjohto"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "note": "dérivation régressive f",
          "sense": "linguistic process"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "dérivation inverse"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "rétroformation"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Rückbildung"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "anadromikós schimatismós",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "αναδρομικός σχηματισμός"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "word": "גזירה לאחור"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "word": "elvonás"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "word": "szóelvonás"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "word": "retroformazione"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "alt": "ぎゃくせい",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "gyakusei",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "word": "逆成"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "tilbakedannelse"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "tilbakedanning"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "derywacja wsteczna"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "derivação regressiva"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "derivare regresivă"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "obrátnoje slovoobrazovánije",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "обра́тное словообразова́ние"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "derivación regresiva"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "word": "omvänd ordbildning"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "word": "phái sinh ngược"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ôl-ffurfiad"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "62 38",
          "alt": "muštaqqa(t) ʕaksiyyan",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "مُشْتَقَّة عَكْسِيًّا"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "62 38",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "subtraktionsdannelse"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "62 38",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
          "word": "takaperoisjohdos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "62 38",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
          "word": "elvonás"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "62 38",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "tilbakedannelse"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "62 38",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "tilbakedanning"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "62 38",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "derivado regresivo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "62 38",
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "ôl-ffurf"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with back-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Back-formations, such as \"tambour\" (for \"play the tambourine\"), are a staple of comedic wordplay.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A word created in this way."
      ],
      "id": "en-back-formation-en-noun-ya0RywDV",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A word created in this way."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "back-form"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "backformation"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "back formation"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "back-formation"
  ],
  "word": "back-formation"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English coinages",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms coined by James Murray",
    "English terms prefixed with back-",
    "English uncountable nouns"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "back-form"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "James Murray",
        "in": "1889",
        "nat": "Scottish",
        "occ": "lexicographer",
        "occ2": "philologist",
        "w": "James Murray (lexicographer)"
      },
      "expansion": "Coined by Scottish lexicographer and philologist James Murray in 1889",
      "name": "coin"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "back-",
        "3": "formation"
      },
      "expansion": "back- + formation",
      "name": "pre"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Coined by Scottish lexicographer and philologist James Murray in 1889; from back- + formation.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "back-formations",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "back-formation (countable and uncountable, plural back-formations)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "disfixation"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "en:Linguistics"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "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."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
        ],
        [
          "morpheme",
          "morpheme"
        ],
        [
          "burgle",
          "burgle"
        ],
        [
          "agent-noun",
          "agent noun"
        ],
        [
          "suffix",
          "suffix"
        ],
        [
          "burglar",
          "burglar"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(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."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Back-formations, such as \"tambour\" (for \"play the tambourine\"), are a staple of comedic wordplay.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A word created in this way."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) A word created in this way."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "back-form"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "backformation"
    },
    {
      "word": "back formation"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "ištiqāq ʕaksiyy",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "اشْتِقَاق عَكْسِيّ"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "subtraktionsdannelse"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "word": "terugvorming"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "word": "retrodeveno"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "word": "takaperoisjohto"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "note": "dérivation régressive f",
      "sense": "linguistic process"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "dérivation inverse"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "rétroformation"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Rückbildung"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "anadromikós schimatismós",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "αναδρομικός σχηματισμός"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "word": "גזירה לאחור"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "word": "elvonás"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "word": "szóelvonás"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "word": "retroformazione"
    },
    {
      "alt": "ぎゃくせい",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "gyakusei",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "word": "逆成"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "tilbakedannelse"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "tilbakedanning"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "derywacja wsteczna"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "derivação regressiva"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "derivare regresivă"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "obrátnoje slovoobrazovánije",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "обра́тное словообразова́ние"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "derivación regresiva"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "word": "omvänd ordbildning"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "word": "phái sinh ngược"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ôl-ffurfiad"
    },
    {
      "alt": "muštaqqa(t) ʕaksiyyan",
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "مُشْتَقَّة عَكْسِيًّا"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "subtraktionsdannelse"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
      "word": "takaperoisjohdos"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
      "word": "elvonás"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "tilbakedannelse"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "tilbakedanning"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "derivado regresivo"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "word formed by this linguistic process",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "ôl-ffurf"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "back-formation"
  ],
  "word": "back-formation"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.