Giving form; having the power of giving form; plastic; as, the formative arts. The meanest plant can not be raised without seed, by any formative residing in the soil. Bentley.
Serving to form; derivative; not radical; as, a termination merely formative.
Capable of growth and development; germinal; as, living or formative matter.
That which serves merely to give form, and is no part of the radical, as the prefix or the termination of a word.
A word formed in accordance with some rule or usage, as from a root.
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