combatative
English edit
Etymology edit
From combat + -ative. First attested in 1835.
Adjective edit
combatative (comparative more combatative, superlative most combatative)
- (proscribed) Uncommon form of combative.
- 1835, [Mary Shelley], “Ugo Foscolo”, in Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of Italy, Spain, and Portugal, volume 2, page 374:
- He frequented mostly the society of women; because he thought them more richly endowed by nature with pity and modesty, two pacific qualities which, he said, alone temper the combatative propensities of human beings.
- 1860, Solon Robinson, How to Live: Saving and Wasting, or, Domestic Economy Illustrated, page 215:
- Some are loquacious; some are argumentative and religious; some are lascivious; some are excessively foolish; some are brutal, beastly, ugly, quarrelsome, wicked, combatative, murderous. Others are simply stupid.
- 1910, Edith M. Patch, O. A. Johannsen, Apple Tree Insects of Maine, page 25:
- As this caterpillar is very readily dislodged, jarring the tree and killing the insect on the ground is a convenient combatative measure.
- 1926, John Mersereau, The Whispering Canyon, page 41:
- Angus Cameron, he knew, was one of those unfortunates who are born with a sure knowledge of their constituted rights and the combatative zeal to defend them at any cost.
- 2010, James Chambers, Footballers’ Haircuts: A New History, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, page 55:
- A combatative midfielder, his no-nonsense facial hair gives him the appearance of a gladiator looking for his next kill.
Usage notes edit
Though the form combatative is not of significantly later origin than combative, it is far less common and is now generally proscribed.