| combining form -
A form of a word used for combining with other words or other combining forms to make new words. A combining form may conjoin with an independent word e. g. , mini- + skirt, another combining form e. g. , photo- + -graphy or an affix e. g. , cephal + -ic; it is thus distinguished from an affix, which can be added to either a free word or a combining form but not solely to another affix e. g. , Iceland + -ic but not pro- + -ic. It can also be distinguished historically from an affix when it is borrowed from another language in which it is descriptively a word e. g. , the French mal gave the English mal- in malodorous or a combining form e. g. , the Greek kako-, a combining form of kakos, gave the English caco- in cacography.
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