asyntactic

[ey-sin-tak-tik]

adjective Grammar. (of compounds)

consisting of morphemes that are combined differently from their mode of combination as separate words in a phrase, as bookstore, which is an asyntactic compound, while the same elements are combined syntactically in store for books.

Origin of asyntactic

First recorded in 1875–80; a-⁶ + syntactic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018