Definition of "combining form" []

• A modified form of an independent word that occurs only in combination with words, affixes, or other combining forms to form compounds or derivatives, as electro- (from electric) in electromagnet or geo- (from Greek geō-, from gē "earth”) in geochemistry. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Forget cyber; Norbert Wiener’s once-modernistic combining form is passé."