| 释义 |
back-formation Philol.
[back- A. III. (Hence G. rückbildung.)]
The formation of what looks like a root-word from an already existing word which might be (but is not) a derivative of the former.
1889N.E.D., Burgle..A back-formation from Burglar. 1907Athenæum 5 Jan. 7/3 ‘Narration’ is fifteenth century, ‘narrative’..and ‘narrator’ as early as Bacon, so that, like many verbs of the same termination, it [sc. ‘narrate’] may have been a back-formation. 1926Fowler Mod. Eng. Usage 516/1 Scavenger, n., is the origin, in English, from which to scavenge is a back-formation, the normal verb being to scavenger. |