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 a word formed by this process
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
back′ forma′tion, [Ling.]
- Linguisticsthe analogical creation of one word from another word that appears to be a derived or inflected form of the first by dropping the apparent affix or by modification.
- Linguisticsa word so formed, as typewrite from typewriter.
- 1885–90
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'back formation' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
-cline
- Arab
- Asura
- ab origine
- abluted
- aborigine
- accrete
- acculturate
- achromate
- addle
- adiabat
- admix
- adulate
- adulterer
- adultery
- advect
- aerodyne
- aesthesia
- aesthete
- alliterate
- allochthon
- allopath
- allotype
- alp
- amphictyon
- analphabet
- analyse
- analyze
- anarch
- anastigmat
- anastomose
- anfractuous
- ankylose
- anticline
- antipode
- aphid
- apomict
- aristocrat
- arm
- arm-twist
- asp
- asset
- atactic
- atone
- attrit
- auscultate
- autolyze
- automate
- autotroph
- auxotroph