List of English back-formations

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{{cite book |last= Abootty
• 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)
• berserk from berserker
• 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
• chalant from nonchalant
• 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
• 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
• verse from versus
• vinify from vinification
• vint (meaning to make wine) from vintage and vintner
• vivisect from vivisection

W

• wiretap from wiretapper

References

References

1. Harper, Douglas. (2001). "Online Etymology Dictionary".
2. (2009). "Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary".
3. (2009). "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language". [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
4. (2009). "Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged". [[Random House.
5. (2003–2009). "Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon". [[Reference.com.
6. (2009). "Oxford English Dictionary". [[Oxford University Press]].
7. "Why Do Kids Say "Versing"?".