formative (formativ)

and n. [ The meanest plant cannot be raised without seeds by any formative power residing in the soil. Bentley, Sermons. Cumber land substitutes throughout for the idea of right as formative in ethics that of natural good. Bibliotheca Sacra , XLIII. 542. 2. Pertaining to formation or development; related to the fixation of or growth into form or order: as, the formative period of youth or of a nation; formative experiments. The man who has learned it [history) as he learns French or German from a travelling conversation book does not gain either the formative effect on the judgment, or the great inheritance of scientific study. Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 73. To them who did not consider the formative nature of the book it seemed as if the young author [Swinburne] was lusting after strange gods. Stedman , Vict. Poets, p. 390. 3. In gram., serving to form; determining grammatical form or character as a part of speech or derivative; inflectional: as, a formative termination. II. n. In gram . , a formative element of a word; that which serves to give grammatical form; an addition to or modification of a root or crude form, giving it special character. format or (for'ma-tor), n. [ format or , a former, shaper, form are , form, shape: see form, v. Cf. former2.] Same as conform at or. for mature (formā-tur), n. [= Pg. formatura ; formatura , form are , form: see form, v.] The act of shaping or forming. [Rare.] These infant communities were easily susceptible of for mature by leading men. The Churchman, LIV. 489. form-board (fôrm'bord), n . An inferior kind of pasteboard used for packing, bookbinding, etc. It is made from waste paper, refuse rags, and coarser portions of the pulp. 2338