Meaning

noun minimal language unit that has a syntactic (or morphological) function

adjective capable of forming new cells and tissues

adjective forming or capable of forming or molding or fashioning

originFrom Middle English formatyve, formatif (“having the ability to form”), from Old French formatif, formative (modern French formatif), from Medieval Latin formātīvus, from Latin fōrmātus + -īvus (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘doing’ or ‘related to doing’). Fōrmātus is the perfect passive participle of fōrmō (“to form, to shape”), from fōrma (“a form, shape”); further etymology…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0