formative

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French formatif, feminine formative,^[2][3][4][5] recorded in Old French from the 12th century and formed as if from a Latin *formātīvus;^[2] the Oxford Dictionary of English and the Shorter Oxford also allow borrowed from Medieval Latin formātīvus.^[3][4] The French adjective is from Latin formātus, the past participle of formō (“to form”),^[6][5][7] from forma (“form, shape”),^[6] with the suffix that gives -ive.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having the power of forming or fashioning: 1490, in Caxton's translation of the Eneydos.^[2] Etymonline and the Shorter Oxford date it to the late 15th century.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) still defined it as "having the power of giving form; plastick", quoting Bentley on the "formative power" of the soil.^[8] Grammar took it up in 1711 for affixes that serve to form words,^[2] and since 1816 has used it as a noun for such an element.^[2][6][7] The broader sense "of or relating to formation or development", which gives formative years and a formative experience, is recorded from 1850,^[2][9] and biology used it from 1877 for tissue or cells capable of growth.^[2][9]

Timeline

• 1490 – having the power of forming or fashioning.^[2]
• 1711 – grammar, serving to form words.^[2]
• 1816 – noun, grammar, a formative element.^[2][6][7]
• 1850 – of or relating to formation or development.^[2]
• 1877 – biology, of tissue capable of growth and differentiation.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having a strong influence on how someone or something develops: Her years abroad were formative.^[9][7]
2. Of or relating to formation, growth or development, as in formative years.^[9][2]
3. (biology) Of tissue or cells, capable of growth and differentiation.^[9][2]
4. (grammar) Serving to form words or inflections: a formative suffix.^[9][7][2]

Noun

1. (grammar) An element, such as a prefix or suffix, that forms a word but is not part of its root.^[9][7][2]

Word family

• formatively
• formativeness
• unformative

Related words

• form
• formation
• format
• formal

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins