D defs.my
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Entry 4 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Formative

/fôr'-mət-ĭv/ · Form·a·tive · IPA /ˈfoɹmətɪv/
01 a. Giving form; having the power of giving form; plastic; as, the formative arts.
  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. 2.
    Serving to form; derivative; not radical; as, a termination merely formative.(Gram.)
  3. 3.
    Capable of growth and development; germinal; as, living or formative matter.(Biol.)
02 n. That which serves merely to give form, and is no part of the radical, as the prefix or the termination of a word.
  1. 1.
    That which serves merely to give form, and is no part of the radical, as the prefix or the termination of a word.(Gram.)