grammaticalize

[ gruh-mat-i-kuh-lahyz ]

verb (used with object),gram·mat·i·cal·ized, gram·mat·i·cal·iz·ing.Linguistics.

to convert (a content word or part of one) into a functor, as in using OE līc, “body,” as a suffix in adjectives and adverbs, such as OE frēondlīc, “friendly.”
to represent (semantic features) by grammatical categories, as plurality in English or gender in French.

Origin of grammaticalize

¹

First recorded in 1935–40; grammatical + -ize

Also especially British, gra·mat·i·cal·ise .

Other words from grammaticalize

gram·mat·i·cal·i·za·tion, noun

Words Nearby grammaticalize

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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