Word.ws English Dictionary

oligosynthetic

oligosynthetic adjective: using a relatively small number of morphemes which combine synthetically to form compound words.

Adjective

oligosynthetic (comparative more oligosynthetic, superlative most oligosynthetic)

  1. Using a relatively small number of morphemes which combine synthetically to form compound words.
    • Talking of which, the grammar of oligosynthetic languages is not always particularly well explained – the designers sometimes seem to have been too focused on the vocabulary.2021 April 10, Simon Davies, “Conlang Excursions 4: Saying a Lot with a Little”, in ESF Connected, archived from the original on 17 Apr 2024

Forms of oligosynthetic

comparativemore oligosynthetic
superlativemost oligosynthetic

Origin of oligosynthetic

From oligo- + synthetic.

Questions about oligosynthetic

What does oligosynthetic mean?
Oligosynthetic means using a relatively small number of morphemes which combine synthetically to form compound words.
What part of speech is oligosynthetic?
Oligosynthetic is an adjective.

Words near oligosynthetic in the dictionary

  1. oligosymptomatic
  2. oligosynaptic
  3. oligosyndactylism
  4. oligosyndactyly
  5. oligosynthesis
  6. oligosynthetic
  7. oligotaxy
  8. oligoteratoasthenospermia
  9. oligoteratoasthenozoospermia
  10. oligoteratospermia
  11. oligoteratozoospermia

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: oligosynthetic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “oligosynthetic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/oligosynthetic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.