pseudo-participial

English

Adjective

pseudo-participial (not comparable)

1. (linguistics) Having the form of a participial of a verb, but for which no such verb exists. For example, for the adjective yellow-bellied there is no corresponding verb "to yellow-belly".

Noun

pseudo-participial (plural pseudo-participials)

1. (linguistics) A pseudo-participial word.
   • 2016, James Lambert, “Ornithonymy and Lexicographical Selection Criteria”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 30, number 1, pages 39–62:

     Modifiers are frequently in the form of a pseudo-participial (e.g. red-whiskered bulbul), especially where there is a large number of species for that type of bird, such as the bulbuls, of which 24 species occur in South Asia.