suppletive

[suh-plee-tiv, suhp-li-tiv]

adjective

Grammar.

1. serving as an inflected form of a word with a totally different stem, as went, the suppletive past of go.

2. including one or more such forms.

   a suppletive paradigm.

3. characterized by the use of such forms.

   suppletive inflection.

Word History and Origins

Origin of suppletive¹

1810–20; < Medieval Latin supplētīvus, equivalent to Latin supplēt ( us ) (past participle of supplēre to fill up; suppletion ) + -īvus -ive

Example Sentences

However, when the processes of change fall into regular categories and patterns—retronyms or suppletive verbs like to be—they illuminate something bigger.

From Economist