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Glite Dictionary
🔤 To insert in word 🔤 Inserted part ➕ To insert inside
infix

infix

9.9
A small part added into the middle of a word to change its form or meaning
  • noun
  • /ˈɪnˌfɪks/
  • Specialized
translation icon : infixo
  • The linguist explained how the infix modifies the original word, inserting itself seamlessly within.

Examples

  • Spanish, like other languages of the Romance family, had inherited from Latin the -ESC verbal infix, originally of inchoative meaning.

    Academic text (1996)

  • In Tagalog, the infix um is placed in the middle of verbs to indicate a completed action.

  • The infinitive and the past participle may in fact have been the last forms to adopt the infix; see Malkiel ("Etymology" 303).

    Academic text (1996)

  • An example of an infix is the insertion of -s in the word 'caterpillar', altering its meaning creatively.

Compounds

infix notation
  • Specialized
9.0

A way of writing math where signs like + or × go between numbers and parentheses show order

Surface Forms

infix singular
infixes plural

Morphology

infix = fix (semi-transparent) = in + fix

The word is built from in- + fix, and the idea of something being fixed into a word is recoverable, but the linguistic term is specialized enough that the meaning is not fully obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Infix is named from in- 'in' and fix 'attach', so it is something 'attached inside' a word; unlike prefix or suffix, which go at the start or end, an infix sits in the middle.