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Backformation is a word-formation process in which a new word is created by removing what is perceived as an affix from an existing word, typically converting a longer word into a shorter one and often changing its part of speech. The new word is formed by reanalyzing the structure of the original word rather than by adding a known morpheme.

In practice, back-formation occurs when speakers treat a derived word as if it were built from a base form plus an affix. This misanalysis leads to creating a new word that replaces the assumed base and affix. Common patterns include forming verbs from nouns by dropping a suffix like -er or -or (for example, burgle from burglar) and forming verbs from nouns ending in -tion by removing that suffix (for example, televise from television). Another well-cited example is edit from editor, where a verb is created by removing the perceived agent noun suffix.

Back-formation can also produce verbs from adjectives or other categories, as well as nouns from verbs in some cases (for example, babysit from babysitter). The process is often reinforced by analogy, frequency, and language use, and some back-formations become fully integrated into a language’s lexicon over time. However, not all proposed back-formations reflect historical derivations; some arise through reanalysis, rules, or cross-linguistic influence, and scholars sometimes debate their productivity or origin.

Historically, the term back-formation was coined in the 19th century to describe this phenomenon. Today, back-formation remains a widely discussed topic in linguistics, illustrating how speaker intuition and pattern recognition shape word formation.