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Glite Dictionary
bound form

bound form

9.6
A small part added to a word that cannot stand alone, like -s in cats and -ed in walked
  • noun
  • /baʊnd fɔrm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : forma ligada
  • In linguistics, the prefix 'un-' is a bound form that modifies the meaning of the root word.

Examples

  • The plural '-s' in 'dogs' is a bound form because it cannot stand alone as a word.

  • All right, Once that happens, so now the then late cyclase is activated because it's bound to the GTP bound form of the alpha subunit.

  • A bound form like '-ing' cannot exist on its own and must attach to a verb.

Synonyms

bound morpheme
vsbound form
  • Specialized
8.6

A word part that cannot stand alone, like re- or -s

is the alternative technical term used interchangeably in linguistics

Surface Forms

bound form singular
bound forms plural

Morphology

bound + form

The noun 'form' reasonably signals a shape or variant and 'bound' conveys being tied/attached rather than free, so a learner who knows both words can plausibly infer a 'bound form' is a form that cannot occur freely. However, the phrase is a technical linguistic term (morpheme-level) and its exact sense—‘a morpheme that never appears alone’—requires domain knowledge, so the link is only partially predictable for an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Bound form comes from a simple picture: bound means 'tied' and form means a part, so it is a piece that is tied to a bigger word. A bound form is a small part like the '-s' in 'cats' that must stay attached to another word and 'cannot stand alone'.