formative

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔː(ɹ)mətɪv/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English formatyve, from Middle French formatif, from Old French formatif, from Latin fōrmātus, perfect passive participle of fōrmō (“to shape; to form”). By surface analysis, form +‎ -ative.

Adjective

formative (comparative more formative, superlative most formative)

1. Of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something.

   My formative years were spent in an inner city.

2. Capable of forming something.
3. (biology) Capable of producing new tissue.
4. (linguistic morphology) Pertaining to the inflection of words.
5. (education) Denoting forms of assessment used to guide learning rather than to quantify educational outcomes.

Coordinate terms

• (education): summative

Derived terms

• formatively
• formativeness

See also

• formulative
• informative

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Formativ, a nominalization of formativ, from Middle French formatif, from Old French formatif, from Latin fōrmātus.

Noun

formative (plural formatives)

1. (linguistic morphology) A language unit, typically a morph, that has a morphological function.

   Synonyms: formans, formant

   Hyponym: affix

Translations

language unit

• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• French: formant (fr) m, formans (fr) m
• Finnish: formatiivi
• German: Formativ (de) n, Formans n
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: formant m
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: форма́нт (ru) m (formánt), формати́в (ru) m (formatív)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Latin: fòrmant (sh) m

  Cyrillic: фо̀рмант m

• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /for.maˈti.ve/
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: for‧ma‧tì‧ve

Adjective

formative

1. feminine plural of formativo

Anagrams

• formatevi