Form"a*tive (?), a. [Cf. F. formatif.] 1. 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.
2. Gram. Serving to form; derivative; not radical; as, a termination merely formative.
3. Biol. Capable of growth and development; germinal; as, living or formative matter.
© Webster 1913.
Form"a*tive, n. Gram. (a) That which serves merely to give form, and is no part of the radical, as the prefix or the termination of a word. (b) A word formed in accordance with some rule or usage, as from a root.
© Webster 1913. | 
