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Why don’t dictionaries have all the different forms of a word

English Language & Usage Asked on March 24, 2021

Here are some different forms of a word that come to mind:

  • Noun (singular, plural, possessive)
  • Verb (past, present, future, etc.)
  • Adverb
  • Adjective

I know that these are called parts of speech and there are other terms involving the grammar of changing them like conjugation for verbs. But it’s the subcategories for these that I’m interested in, especially nouns. For example, there are 3 subcategories for nouns:

  • Nouns that describes how a person behaves/what they do (someone who is gluttonous is a glutton) or what they believe in (someone who believes in existentialism is an existentialist)

  • Nouns that describe the process of something getting done (the process of creating something is creation)

  • Nouns that describe a phenomenon like a way of thinking or a trait (using the previous examples, an existentialist believes in existentialism and a glutton gives into gluttony

Also there is a subcategory of verb that I’m thinking of:

  • To make something or someone have more of a particular quality (making something more simple is simplifying it, making someone more beautiful is beautifying them)

I know all of this has to do with etymology, particularly prefixes and suffixes. But I would like to know if there is a dictionary or other reference (preferably online, but I’m open to books) that has all the different forms of a word in one place. I know some online dictionaries might have them, but that doesn’t always happen. For example, if I google initial, initialization or initialize don’t show up in many dictionaries (I only saw one from a quick google search). This is also a simple word. It can be more difficult when trying to find more technical or less common words. Any and all information on this topic is welcome, not necessarily just references like a dictionary

2 Answers

It seems you're looking for the derivations of different words.

For instance, the noun 'beauty' has

Noun derivations: beautification, beautician, beautifier, beautifying

Verb derivations: beautify

Adjective derivations: beauteous, beautiful

Beauteous can then be turned again into

Beauteousness which is a noun, or beauteously which is an adverb.

Also, beautiful can be turned into

Beautifully which is an adverb.

You can also make compound nouns from beauty, such as...

Beauty queen, beauty contest, beauty pageant, etc.

Now, if you are looking for such derivations, then you can't find everything in one place or on one website, but I can refer you to some places you can visit:

https://www.dictionary.com/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/

If you want software applications, instead... you can go for Word Web. Even with these softwares, you won't get everything, but they can make your job much easier.

Answered by VKBoy on March 24, 2021

It's not usually necessary to list all forms of a word formed by adding common prefixes and suffixes. These affixes have common meanings in the way that they modify the root word, so unless the modified form has an ideosynctatic meaning, most dictionaries won't bother describing them explicitly. If they did, practically every definition would go on for many pages, because English allows affixes to be added in an almost unlimited manner, and this would require more lexicographers whose only task was to write all these tedious, obvious definitions.

That's how you get words like "antidisestablishmentarianism"; the root word is "establish", and two prefixes and three or four suffixes have been added (I'm not sure if "arian" is one suffix or the combination or "ary" and "an"). As each affix is added, the meaning is altered in the usually expected way, so you can understand the final word just from the basic grammar.

Answered by Barmar on March 24, 2021

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