Appendix:English back-formations

An English back-formation refers to either the process of creating a new lexeme (less precisely, a new "word") by removing actual or supposed affixes, or to the neologism formed by such a process. Back-formations are shortened words created from longer words. Back-formations are different from clipping in that they often change the word class (part of speech) of the word.

Each back-formation in this list is followed by the original word from which it was back-formed.

Contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

ablute from ablution
aborigine as a mistaken singular for aborigines (correct Latin singular is aboriginal) [1]
accrete from accretion (from Latin accrescere) [2]
acculturate from acculturation [3]
admix from admixture
adsorb from adsorption
adolesce from adolescence
adulate from adulation [4]
advect from advection [5]
aesthete from aesthetic [6]
air-condition from air conditioning [7]
alm from alms
anticline from anticlinal [8]
arch ("to practice archery") from archery
arm (weapon) from arms (from Latin arma)
attrit from attrition [9]
auto-destruct from auto-destruction (cf. auto-destroy)
automate from automation [10]
aviate from aviation [11]

B

babysit from babysitter [12]
back-form from back-formation
bartend from bartender [13]
benefact from benefactor (and also the derived benefactee, cf. benefactor)
bibliograph from bibliography
bicep from biceps (non-standard) [14]
biograph from biography
blockbust from blockbuster [15]
book-keep from book-keeping
bonafy from bonafied (which itself is a corruption of "bona fide")^[1]
brainwash from brainwashing [16]
bulldoze from bulldozer [17]
bum possibly from bummer [18]
burgle from burglar [19]
bus ("to clear dirty dishes from table") from busboy [20]
bushwhack from bushwhacker [21]
buttle from butler [22]

C

cadge from cadger [23]
caretake from caretaker
chemist from alchemist
cavitate from cavitation [24]
cherry from Old French cerise [25]
choate from inchoate
choreograph from choreography [26]
claustrophobe from claustrophobia
cohese from cohesion (cf. cohere)
commentate from commentator [27]
committal from non-committal
complicit from complicity [28]
computerize from computerized
congratulation from congratulations
contracept from contraception (cf. rare contraceive)
contrapt from contraption
convect from convection [29]
conversate from conversation or conversing [30]
cose from cosy
couth from uncouth [31]
co-vary from covariation
crank (noun) from cranky
creep (as a noun for a person) from creepy
cross multiply from cross multiplication
cross-refer from cross-reference [32]
curate from curator [33]
custom-make from custom-made

D

dapple from dappled [34]
darkle from darkling [35]
decadent from decadence [36]
deconstruct from deconstruction [37]
dedifferentiate from dedifferentiation [38]
demarcate from demarcation [39]
destruct from destruction [40]
diagnose from diagnosis [41]
diffract from diffraction [42]
dinge from dingy [43]
diplomat from diplomatic [44]
dishevel from disheveled [45]
donate from donation [46]
drear from dreary
drowse from drowsy (possibly a backformation)
dry-clean from dry cleaning [47]

E

eave from eaves [48]
eavesdrop from eavesdropper [49]
edit from editor (from Latin stem edere (“to bring forth”)) [50], [51]
electrocute from electrocution [52]
elocute from elocution [53]
emote from emotion [54]
enthuse from enthusiasm [55]
escalate from escalator [56]
eutrophicate from eutrophication
evaluate from evaluation [57]
extrapose from extraposition [58]

F

fine-tune from fine tuning [59]
flab from flabby [60]
flappable from unflappable [61]
flake ("eccentric person") from flaky
floss ("to show off") from flossy [62]
fluoresce from fluorescence [63]
forward-form from forward-formation (a back-formation)
fragmentate from fragmentation [64]
free-associate from free association (backformed adjective-verb compound)
funk (quality of music) from funky [65]

G

gamble from gambler [66]
gestate from gestation [67]
ghostwrite from ghostwriter [68]
gid from giddy [69]
gnarl from gnarled [70]
godsend from god-sent [71]
greed from greedy (the noun was originally "greediness", although Old English did have such a noun, grǣd, which would have led to "greed" in Modern English if it had survived, but it did not) [72]
grid from gridiron [73]
grovel from groveling [74]
grunge from grungy [75]
gruntle from disgruntle [76]