formative : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: formative	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for formative
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
formative adj capable of forming new cells and tissues; "a formative zone in developing bone" forming or capable of forming or molding or fashioning; "a formative influence"; "a formative experience" Synonym(s): formative, shaping, plastic n minimal language unit that has a syntactic (or morphological) function
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Formative \Form"ative\, a. [Cf. F. formatif.] 1. Giving form; having the power of giving form; plastic; as, the formative* arts. The meanest plant can not be raised without seed, by any formative residing in the soil. --Bentley. 2. (Gram.) Serving to form; derivative; not radical; as, a termination merely formative. 3. (Biol.) Capable of growth and development; germinal; as, living or formative matter.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Formative \Form"a*tive\, n. (Gram.) (a) That which serves merely to give form, and is no part of the radical, as the prefix or the termination of a word. (b) A word formed in accordance with some rule or usage, as from a root.