Associations to the word «Formative»

Wiktionary

FORMATIVE, adjective. Of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something.
FORMATIVE, adjective. Capable of forming something.
FORMATIVE, adjective. (biology) Capable of producing new tissue.
FORMATIVE, adjective. (grammar) Pertaining to the inflection of words.
FORMATIVE, noun. (grammar) A language unit that has morphological function.

Dictionary definition

FORMATIVE, noun. Minimal language unit that has a syntactic (or morphological) function.
FORMATIVE, adjective. Capable of forming new cells and tissues; "a formative zone in developing bone".
FORMATIVE, adjective. Forming or capable of forming or molding or fashioning; "a formative influence"; "a formative experience".

Wise words

Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.
Nathaniel Hawthorne