Polysynthetic

Origin

The Ancient Greek prefix poly- + synthetic, from Latin synthesis ("collection, set, composition"), from Ancient Greek σύνθεσις (sunthesis, "composition"), from συντίθημι (suntithēmi, "to put together, combine"), from συν- (sun-, "together") + τίθημι (tithēmi, "to put, place"), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰe- ("to put, to do").

Full definition of polysynthetic

Adjective

1. (grammar) said of a language, characterized by a prevalence of relatively long words containing a large number of morphemes. Typically, the morphemes are bound (i.e., they cannot stand alone as independent words). An example of a polysynthetic language is Ojibwe, where:
• baataanitaaanishinaabemong = "being able to speak Ojibwe."
• ngiinitaaozhibii'amaadimin = "we used to write to each other."
2. (mineralogy) Having layers of twin crystals

Related terms

• oligosynthetic
• polysynthesis
• polysynthesism
• synthetic