title: List of English back-formations
text: # List of English back-formations
  
  Back-formation is either the process of creating a new lexeme (less precisely, a new "word") by removing actual or supposed affixes, or a neologism formed by such a process. Back-formations are shortened words created from longer words, thus back-formations may be viewed as a sub-type of clipping.
  
  Each back-formation in this list is followed by the original word from which it was back-formed.
  
  * Top
  * 0–9
  * A
  * B
  * C
  * D
  * E
  * F
  * G
  * H
  * I
  * J
  * K
  * L
  * M
  * N
  * O
  * P
  * Q
  * R
  * S
  * T
  * U
  * V
  * W
  * X
  * Y
  * Z
  
  ## A
  
  * abduct probably from abduction
  * abscess (v.) from abscessed
  * aborigine from aborigines, mistaken for a plural noun
  * accord (n.) from Old French acorde, acort, a back-formation from acorder
  * accrete from accretion (root: accrescere)
  * acculturate from acculturation
  * addict from addicted (root: addicere)
  * admix from admixt
  * Adirondack Mountains from Adirondacks, mistaken for a plural noun
  * adsorb from adsorption
  * adolesce from adolescence
  * adulate from adulation
  * advect from advection
  * advisor perhaps from advisory
  * aerate (meaning "expose to air") probably from aeration
  * aesthete from aesthetic
  * aggress from aggression
  * air-condition from air conditioning
  * alley
  * alliterate from alliteration
  * allotrope from allotropy
  * amaze from Middle English amased
  * ambivalent from ambivalence
  * ameliorate perhaps from amelioration in some cases
  * annunciate perhaps from annunciation in some cases
  * anticline from anticlinal
  * antipode from antipodes (non-standard)
  * appeal (n.) from Old French apel, back-formation from apeler
  * apperceive (in modern psychological use) from apperception
  * aristocrat from French aristocrate, a back-formation from aristocratie
  * assent (n.) from Old French assent, a back-formation from assentir
  * attrit from attrition
  * auto-destruct from auto-destruction (cf. auto-destroy)
  * automate from automation
  * aviate from aviation
  * avid partly from avidity
  * awe-strike perhaps from awestruck
  
  ## B
  
  * babysit from babysitter
  * back-form from back-formation
  * bartend from bartender
  * beg from beggar
  * benefact from benefactor (and also the derived benefactee, cf. benefactor)
  * bibliograph from bibliography
  * bicep from biceps (non-standard)
  * biograph from biography
  * bird (verb) from bird watcher
  * blockbust from blockbuster
  * book-keep from book-keeping
  * brainwash from brainwashing
  * bulldoze from bulldozer
  * bum possibly from bummer
  * burgle from burglar
  * bus ("to clear dirty dishes from table") from busboy
  * bushwhack from bushwhacker
  * buttle from butler
  
  ## C
  
  * cadge from cadger
  * caretake from caretaker
  * cavitate from cavitation
  * chain-smoke from chain-smoker
  * Chess (river) from Chesham
  * choate from inchoate
  * choreograph from choreography
  * chupacabra from Spanish chupacabras (both a plural and a singular in Spanish)
  * claustrophobe from claustrophobia
  * cohese from cohesion (disambiguation) (cf. cohere)
  * commentate from commentator
  * committal from non-committal
  * complicit from complicity
  * computerize from computerized
  * contracept from contraception (cf. rare contraceive)
  * contrapt from contraption
  * convect from convection
  * conversate from conversation or conversing
  * cose from cosy
  * couth from uncouth
  * co-vary from covariation
  * cross multiply from cross multiplication
  * cross-refer from cross-reference
  * curate (verb) from curator
  * custom-make from custom-made
  
  ## D
  
  * dapple from dappled
  * darkle from darkling
  * decadent from decadence
  * deconstruct from deconstruction
  * dedifferentiate from dedifferentiation
  * demarcate from demarcation
  * demograph from demographics
  * destruct from destruction
  * diagnose from diagnosis
  * diffract from diffraction
  * dinge from dingy
  * diplomat from diplomatic
  * dishevel from disheveled
  * donate from donation
  * drear from dreary
  * drowse from drowsy (possibly a backformation)
  * dry-clean from dry cleaning
  
  ## E
  
  * eave from eaves
  * eavesdrop from eavesdropper
  * edit from editor (from Latin stem edere, to bring forth)
  * electrocute from electrocution
  * elocute from elocution
  * emote from emotion
  * enthuse from enthusiasm
  * escalate from escalator
  * eutrophicate from eutrophication
  * evaluate from evaluation
  * explicate (meaning "explain") from explicable
  * extradite from extradition
  * extrapose from extraposition
  
  ## F
  
  * fine-tune from fine tuning
  * flab from flabby
  * flappable from unflappable
  * flake ("eccentric person") from flaky
  * floss ("to show off") from flossy
  * fluoresce from fluorescence
  * fragmentate from fragmentation
  * free-associate from free association (backformed adjective-verb compound)
  * funk (quality of music) from funky
  
  ## G
  
  * gamble from gambler
  * gestate from gestation
  * ghostwrite from ghostwriter
  * gid from giddy
  * gladiola from gladiolus
  * gnarl from gnarled
  * goaltend from goaltender
  * godsend from god-sent
  * greed from greedy (the noun was originally "greediness")
  * grid from gridiron
  * grovel from groveling
  * grunge from grungy
  * gruntle from disgruntle
  
  ## H
  
  * handwrite from handwriting
  * hard-boil from hard-boiled
  * hawk (meaning "to sell") from hawker
  * haze from hazy
  * headhunt from headhunter
  * headquarter from headquarters
  * helicopt from helicopter
  * herptile (a reptile or amphibian) from herpetology
  * herpe (a single herpes sore) from herpes
  * housebreak from housebroken
  * houseclean from housecleaning
  * housekeep from housekeeper
  * hustle from hustler
  
  ## I
  
  * inadvertent from inadvertence
  * ideologue from ideology
  * incent from incentive
  * indice from indices (cf. index)
  * injure from injury
  * intercept from interception (possibly a backformation)
  * interfluve from interfluvial
  * interlineate from interlinear
  * intuit from intuition
  * isolate from isolated
  
  ## J
  
  * jell from jelly
  * jerry-build from jerry-built
  
  ## K
  
  * kidnap from kidnapper
  * kudo from kudos (some commentators regard it non-standard)
  
  ## L
  
  * lase from laser
  * laze from lazy
  * legislate from legislator
  * letch from lecher
  * liaise from liaison
  * loaf (meaning "to be idle") from loafer
  * logroll from logrolling
  * luminesce from luminescent
  
  ## M
  
  * manipulate from manipulation
  * mase from maser
  * mentee from mentor
  * mix from mixt (adj. from Old French, misconstrued as past participle of verb)
  * mottle from motley
  * moonlight (the verb, work on second job) from moonlighter
  * multimillion from multimillionaire
  
  ## N
  
  * nake from naked
  * nitpick from nit-picking
  * notate from notation
  
  ## O
  
  * obsess (meaning "to behave obsessively") from obsessive
  * obligate (as a verb meaning "oblige") from obligation
  * one-up or one-upman from one-upmanship
  * orate from oration
  * orientate from orientation
  
  ## P
  
  * panhandle (meaning "to accost") from panhandler
  * paramedic from paramedical
  * partake from partaker
  * patriation from repatriation
  * pea from Middle English pease
  * peddle from peddler
  * peeve from peevish
  * pettifog from pettifogger
  * phosphoresce from phosphorescent
  * pleb from plebs
  * ply from reply
  * preempt from preemption
  * process from procession
  * prodigal from prodigality
  * proliferate from proliferation
  * proofread from proofreader
  * pugn from impugn
  
  ## Q
  
  * quadrumvir from quadrumvirate
  * quantitate from quantitative
  
  ## R
  
  * raunch from raunchy
  * recurse from recursion
  * reminisce from reminiscence
  * resurrect from resurrection
  * ruly from unruly
  * rotovate from rotovator
  
  ## S
  
  * sass (impudence) from sassy
  * scavenge from scavenger
  * sculpt from sculptor
  * secrete (meaning "to produce and emit") from secretion
  * secretive from secretiveness
  * sedate (the verb) from sedative
  * self-destruct from self-destruction (cf. self-destroy)
  * semantic (adjective) from semantics
  * sharecrop from sharecropper
  * shoplift from shoplifter
  * sightsing from sightsinging
  * sightsee from sightseeing
  * sipid from insipid
  * sleaze from sleazy
  * sleepwalk from sleepwalking
  * smarm from smarmy
  * sorb from sorption (also a back-formation)
  * soft-land from soft landing (backformed adjective-noun compound)
  * sorption from adsorption and absorption
  * spectate from spectator
  * stargaze from stargazer
  * statistic from statistics
  * stave (the noun) from staves (the original singular is staff)
  * steamroll from steamroller
  * stridulate from stridulation
  * suburb from suburban
  * suckle from suckling
  * sulk from sulky
  * summate from summation
  * sunburn (the verb) from sunburned
  * superannuate from superannuated
  * surreal from surrealism
  * surveil from surveillance
  * swashbuckle from swashbuckler
  * swindle from swindler
  * syncline from synclinal
  
  ## T
  
  * tamale, as a singular of tamales (plural form of tamal)
  * tase from Taser
  * taxon from taxonomy
  * televise from television
  * tongue-lash from tongue-lashing
  * transcript (verb) from transcription (cf. verb transcribe)
  * tricep from triceps (non-standard)
  * trickle-irrigate from trickle-irrigation (possibly backformed from verb-noun compound but may also be verb-verb compound)
  * tweeze from tweezers
  * typewrite from typewriter
  
  ## U
  
  * underwhelming as a supposed antonym of overwhelming
  * unit from unity
  * upholster from upholstery
  * ush from usher
  
  ## V
  
  * vaccinate from vaccination
  * vend as in vend out (meaning to contract out to a vendor), derived from vendor
  * vinify from vinification
  * vint (meaning to make wine) from vintage and vintner
  * vivisect from vivisection
  
  ## W
  
  * wiretap from wiretapper
  