| privative |
| Definition: A suffix that indicates negation, absence, or loss. |
| Example: The less in gormless, the un in unwanted, and the a in ahistorical. |
| Etymology: The word derives from the Latin privativus, privation or negation (from the Latin privare, deprive). |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The term's first OED citation is from 1590: "Know you what a is here, it is a priuatiue." (Hutchinson in Greenwood Collect. Sclaund. Art. Divb,) |