Search Result for "back-formation":
Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (1)
1. a word invented (usually unwittingly by subtracting an affix) on the assumption that a familiar word derives from it;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
back-formation \back"-for*ma`tion\ n. (Linguistics) 1. a word invented (usually unwittingly by subtracting an affix) on the assumption that a familiar word derives from it, such as emote from emotion. [WordNet 1.5 +PJC] 2. the process of inventing a back-formation[1]. [PJC]
