Definition of Formative

1. Noun. Minimal language unit that has a syntactic (or morphological) function.

Generic synonyms: Language Unit, Linguistic Unit

2. Adjective. Capable of forming new cells and tissues. "A formative zone in developing bone"
Category relationships: Biological Science, Biology
Similar to: Constructive

3. Adjective. Forming or capable of forming or molding or fashioning. "A formative experience"
Exact synonyms: Plastic, Shaping
Similar to: Constructive
Derivative terms: Form

Definition of Formative

1. a. Giving form; having the power of giving form; plastic; as, the formative arts.

2. n. That which serves merely to give form, and is no part of the radical, as the prefix or the termination of a word.

Definition of Formative

1. Adjective. Of or pertaining to the formation and subsequent growth of something. ¹

2. Adjective. Capable of forming something. ¹

3. Adjective. (biology) Capable of producing new tissue. ¹

4. Adjective. (grammar) Pertaining to the inflection of words. ¹

5. Noun. (grammar) A language unit that has morphological function. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Formative

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Formative

1. 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. Serving to form; derivative; not radical; as, a termination merely formative. 3. Capable of growth and development; germinal; as, living or formative matter. Origin: Cf. F. Formatif. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Formative

formate-NADP oxidoreductase
formate-tetrahydrofolate ligase
formate dehydrogenases
formate hydrogen lyase
formated
formates
formating
formatio
formatio reticularis
formation
formation rule
formation rules
formational
formationes
formations
formative (current term)
formative cell
formatively
formatives
formats
formattable
formatted
formatted capacity
formatter
formatters
formatting
formattings
formay
formazan
formazans

Literary usage of Formative

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A German-English dictionary of terms used in medicine and the allied sciences by Hugo Lang, Bertram Abrahams (1905)
"formative, germinal Bildungs-abweichung, /. deviation from normal formation, monstrosity, malformation Bildungs-anomalie, /. abnormal development ..."

2. Assessment in Support of Instruction and Learning by Bota, National Research Council (U.S.), ebrary, Inc, Committee on Science Education K-12 (2003)
"GREAT BRITAIN: ENHANCED formative ASSESSMENT Dylan Wiliam of King's College, London, described efforts in Great Britain to focus closely on the ways ..."

3. A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Or South-Indian Family of Languages by Robert Caldwell (1875)
"The formative syllable or suffix, the nature of which will be explained more ... The nasalised formative is used in Tamil in connection with the ..."

4. Eugenio Rignano Upon the Inheritance of Acquired Characters: A Hypothesis of by Eugenio Rignano (1911)
"For the cells of the iris cannot preserve within them potentially any trace of a formative capacity, or of a germinal "anlage," or of any "determinant" ..."

5. Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom by Rick Wormeli (2006)
"On the contrary, students achieve more with frequent formative assessment throughout the unit. After reviewing 7827 studies on learning and instruction, ..."

6. Strasburger's Text-book of Botany by Eduard Strasburger, Hans Fitting (1921)
"A. The formative Tissues These are also termed ... These formative tissues, from which the permanent tissues are developed, are distinguished according to ..."

7. Egypt's Place in Universal History: An Historical Investigation in Five Books by Christian Karl Josias Bunsen, Samuel Birch (1860)
"All formative syllables and formative words are found as full roots, or independent ... Several of the formative words occur in Semitic, and even in Iranian ..."

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