Word.ws English Dictionary

preformant

Syllables: pre·form·antUK/pɹiːˈfɔːm(ə)nt/US/pɹiˈfɔɹm(ə)nt/

preformant noun: chiefly in Semitic languages: Synonym of preformative (“a formative letter, syllable, etc., at the beginning of a word”).

Noun

preformant (plural preformants)

  1. (archaic, rare) Chiefly in Semitic languages: Synonym of preformative (“a formative letter, syllable, etc., at the beginning of a word”).
    • Verbs are declined through the persons by preformants and terminations, according to the following table, in which the blanks represent the radicals of a perfect verb.1822, William Harris, “Verbs”, in Elements of the Chaldee Language, Intended as a Supplement to the Hebrew Grammars, and as a General Introduction to the Aramean Dialects, London: […] William Baynes...

Forms of preformant

pluralpreformants

Origin of preformant

From pre- (prefix meaning ‘before; physically in front of’) + Latin fōrmāns (“fashioning, forming, shaping”) + -ant (suffix forming agent nouns from verbs), modelled after prefix. Fōrmāns is the present participle of fōrmō (“to fashion, form, format, shape”), from fōrma (“appearance, figure, form, shape; beauty; design, outline, plan; model, mould, pattern, stamp; (figuratively) kind, manner, sort”) (further etymology uncertain) + -ō (suffix forming first-conjugation verbs).

Questions about preformant

What does preformant mean?
Preformant means chiefly in Semitic languages: Synonym of preformative (“a formative letter, syllable, etc., at the beginning of a word”).
What part of speech is preformant?
Preformant is a noun.
How do you pronounce preformant?
Preformant is pronounced /pɹiːˈfɔːm(ə)nt/ (UK).
What is the plural of preformant?
The plural of preformant is preformants.

Words near preformant in the dictionary

  1. preforking
  2. preforks
  3. preform
  4. preformalin
  5. preformance
  6. preformant
  7. preformants
  8. preformat
  9. preformation
  10. preformationary
  11. preformationism

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: preformant (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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