adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An endocentric compound.

Adjective

1. 1
   Focused or centered within itself, and not on something external. not-comparable
2. 2
   Fulfilling the same grammatical role as one of its constituents. not-comparable

   "The noun "houseboat" is endocentric because "boat" is also a noun."

Adjective

1. 1
   fulfilling the grammatical role of one of its constituents wordnet

Antonyms

All antonyms

exocentric

Example

More examples

""Clocktower" is an example of an endocentric compound."

Etymology

From endo- + -centric.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.