Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
affixation

affixation

1 6.0
Adding a prefix or suffix to a word to make a new word
  • noun
  • /əˌfɪkˈseɪʃən/
  • Specialized
: afixación

Examples

  • What the Five Percenters had failed to realize is that avoiding affixation of enslaving identities is as easy as you dare.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • When the affixation process also changes the lexical category of the base word, such as in the case of affixing the suffix to the base verb fix to create the adjective fixable, a derived word is created.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Affixation occurs when a affixation is added to change the meaning of a word.

  • In English, affixation is a common way to create new words, such as adding '-able' to 'write' to form 'writeable.'

  • The study of affixation helps linguists understand how different languages form their words.

Synonyms

derivation
vsaffixation
  • Specialized
1 6.0

Making a new word from another word by adding a letter or ending

focuses specifically on adding small word parts like prefixes or suffixes to make new forms

Antonyms

removal
162 2.0

Taking something or someone away from a place

Surface Forms

affixation singular
affixations plural

Morphology

affixation = affix (transparent) = affix + ation

A regular nominalization from the verb 'affix' using '-ation', giving the process or result 'the act of affixing'.

Etymology

Affixation comes from Latin parts ad- ('to') and figere ('to fix'), via the word affix which meant 'attach'. So affixation is the act of attaching small parts like un- or -ing to a word to make a new word or form.