polysynthetic
[pol-ee-sin-thet-ik]
- (of a language) characterized by a prevalence of relatively long words containing a large number of affixes to express syntactic relationships and meanings. Many American Indian languages are polysynthetic.Compare analytic(def 3), synthetic(def 3).
- of or relating to polysynthesism.
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Sometimes pol·y·syn·thet·i·cal.
Origin of polysynthetic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for polysynthetic
Historical Examples
It is called by philologists the polysynthetic construction.
The Myths of the New WorldDaniel G. Brinton
Very different from all these is the spirit of a polysynthetic language.
The Myths of the New WorldDaniel G. Brinton
On account of the frequent occurrence of such elements American languages have been classed as 'polysynthetic.'
The Myths of the North American IndiansLewis Spence
The result often is certain sesquipedalia verba comparable in length to those of the American polysynthetic languages.
Man, Past and PresentAgustus Henry Keane
The Chippewa is, in its structure, what is denominated by Mr. Du Ponceau "polysynthetic."
polysynthetic
- denoting languages, such as Inuktitut, in which single words may express the meaning of whole phrases or clauses by virtue of multiple affixesCompare synthetic (def. 3), analytic (def. 3), agglutinative (def. 2)
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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