back-formation
noun
- a word actually formed from, but seeming to be the base of, another word (Ex.: burgle from burglar)
- the process of forming such a word
See back-formation in American Heritage Dictionary 4
or back formation (băkˈfôr-māˌshən)
noun- 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 pea from the earlier English plural pease.
- The process of forming words in this way. See Note at baby-sit.
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