Morphologize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To analyze or study the form and structure of words and their meaningful components; to transform or shape something into a particular form; to describe or interpret the morphological aspects of language
2. To engage in examining the formation and configuration of linguistic units; to cause a change in shape or form; to provide an account of morphology within language analysis
3. To perform the act of investigating word structures and their constituent parts; to alter the form or appearance of an object or concept; to explain or present the morphological features in linguistic contexts

Etymology: "Morphologize" is a plain formation: it is built from "morphology" (or its adjective "morphological") with the suffix "-ize," which turns a noun or adjective into a verb meaning to treat, make, or subject something to that quality. So the verb carries the sense of working on something in terms of its form or structure, whether that means analysing the internal parts of words or reshaping an object or concept. The root "morphology" is the more interesting half. It was coined in the early nineteenth century from Greek "morphē," meaning form or shape, plus "-logia," the study of something. It was used first in biology for the study of organic form, and linguists later borrowed it for the study of how words are built from smaller meaningful units. The verb inherits both strands, which explains why it can describe either a grammarian's analysis or a change in an object's appearance.

Synonyms: analyze, classify, structure