preformant UK /pɹiːˈfɔːm(ə)nt/US /pɹiˈfɔɹm(ə)nt/ noun1 •(no longer used, rare) Chiefly in Semitic languages: Synonym of preformative (“a formative letter, syllable, etc., at the beginning of a word”).Verbs are declined through the persons by preformants and terminations, according to the following table, in which the blanks represent the radicals of a perfect verb. — 1822 formspreformants