formative element: Meaning and Definition of

form'ative el"ement

Pronunciation: [key]
— Gram. Gram.
  1. a morpheme that serves as an affix, not as a base, or root, in word formation.
  2. any noninflectional morpheme, whether base or affix.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.