grammaticalize

especially British, gra·mat·i·cal·ise

[gruh-mat-i-kuh-lahyz]

verb (used with object)

Linguistics.

grammaticalized, grammaticalizing 

1. 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.”

2. to represent (semantic features) by grammatical categories, as plurality in English or gender in French.

Other Word Forms

• grammaticalization noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of grammaticalize¹

First recorded in 1935–40; grammatical + -ize