infix
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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infixes,
present (3rd person singular)
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infixed,
past participle, past
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infixing
present participle
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to fix, fasten, or drive in.
He infixed the fatal spear.
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to instill (a fact, idea, etc.) in the mind or memory; impress.
Your childhood trauma infixed these specific fears in your mind.
- Synonyms:
- inculcate
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Grammar. to add as an infix.
The English language infixes only a small set of expletives and euphemisms, as in “fan-freakin-tastic” or “abso-bloody-lutely.”
verb (used without object)
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infixes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
infixed,
past participle, past
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infixing
present participle
adjective
verb
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(tr) to fix firmly in
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(tr) to instil or inculcate
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grammar to insert (an affix) or (of an affix) to be inserted into the middle of a word
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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infixsimple
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infixessimple
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have infixedperfect
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has infixedperfect
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am infixingprogressive
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are infixingprogressive
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is infixingprogressive
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have been infixingperfect progressive
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has been infixingperfect progressive
Past
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infixedsimple
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had infixedperfect
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was infixingprogressive
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were infixingprogressive
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had been infixingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of infix
First recorded in 1495–1505; from Latin infīxus, past participle of infīgere “to fasten in”; see in- 2, fix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But CPL uses infix notation; I’d have to get all the operator precedence right to generate Lisp code with the parens in the right place.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 23, 2011
If a couple or more articles be claimed, an infix is inserted between the noun root and the possessive affix, thus: Mirribuladya, dogs both mine; mirridyimmadya, dogs several mine.
From The Wiradyuri and Other Languages of New South Wales by R. H. (Robert Hamilton) Mathews
Consider that innumerable race of insects, which either are bred on the body of each animal, or, flying about, infix their stings in him.
From Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume
Perhaps I will throw Yerreeningga booramboonda If a negative meaning be required, it is effected by means of an infix, mooga, between the verb-stem and the abbreviated pronoun.
From The Gundungurra Language by R. H. (Robert Hamilton) Mathews
I have a friend who loves me as his life, and in whose breast I should infix a mortal sting if I ungratefully left him.
From Mathilda by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
The formative parts are affixes; and affixes may be divided into three classes, prefixes, suffixes, and infixes.
From On the Evolution of Language First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1879-80, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1881, pages 1-16 by John Wesley Powell
It gives them more force and influence; makes them appear of greater importance; infixes them in the mind; and renders them the governing principles of all our actions.
From A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume
Between these prefixes and the noun or verb, pronominal infixes are introduced, by which possession is denoted in the case of a noun, and the subject in that of a verb.
From Notes and Queries, Number 84, June 7, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Geneologists, etc. by Various
To a large extent the pronouns are incorporated in the verbs as prefixes, infixes, or suffixes.
From On the Evolution of Language First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1879-80, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1881, pages 1-16 by John Wesley Powell
Particles may be prefixed, infixed, or affixed in compounded words, and which one of these methods will finally prevail can be determined only in the later stage of growth.
From Indian Linguistic Families Of America, North Of Mexico Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 1-142 by John Wesley Powell
Thus was I transplanted to the soil where I grew to my appointed stature;—a kindly soil and habitat wherein not a few fibers of my affections are left infixed.
From Pioneer Day Exercises by Michigan. Ladies' Library Association Schoolcraft
And afterward were erected not farre from that place the Armes of England ingrauen in lead, and infixed vpon a pillar of wood.
From The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of The English Nation, Vol. XII., America, Part I. by Richard Hakluyt
It was on this voyage that Sir Humphrey found and claimed Newfoundland as an English possession, setting up there "the Arms of England ingraven in lead and infixed upon a pillar of wood."
From English Literature for Boys and Girls by H. E. (Henrietta Elizabeth) Marshall
Thus, an infixed -um- is characteristic of many intransitive verbs with personal pronominal suffixes, e.g., sad- “to wait,” sumid-ak “I wait”; kineg “silent,” kuminek-ak “I am silent.”
From Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Edward Sapir
To stick over, as with sharp points pressed in; to mark by infixing points or spots here and there; to pierce.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Noah Webster
Languages in India, families of, 70. —— isolating, combinatory, and inflectional, 79. —— suffixing, prefixing, affixing, and infixing, 85.
From Chips from a German Workshop - Volume IV Essays chiefly on the Science of Language by F. Max (Friedrich Max) Müller
An infixing stillness, now thrust a long rivet through the night, and fast nailed it to that side of the world.
From Pierre; or The Ambiguities by Herman Melville
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
