adjective
See also: adjectivé
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Old French adjectif, from Latin adiectivus, from adiciō + -īvus, from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + iaciō (“throw”). The Latin word adiectivus in turn was a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπιθετικόν (epithetikón, “added”), a derivative of the compound verb ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi), from which also comes epithet.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
adjective (plural adjectives)
- (grammar) A word that modifies a noun or describes a noun’s referent.
- The words “big” and “heavy” are English adjectives.
- 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 8:
- "They'll have to invent new adjectives when I come back. You wait!"
- (obsolete) A dependent; an accessory.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Fuller to this entry?)
SynonymsEdit
HyponymsEdit
- attributive adjective
- cardinal adjective
- demonstrative adjective
- descriptive adjective
- indefinite adjective
- interrogative adjective
- limiting adjective
- numerical adjective
- ordinal adjective
- participial adjective
- possessive adjective
- predicative adjective
- proper adjective
- quasi-adjective
- relative adjective
- substantive adjective
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
(grammar) a word that modifies a noun or describes a noun’s referent
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AdjectiveEdit
adjective (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Incapable of independent function.
- 1899, John Jay Chapman, Emerson and Other Essays, AMS Press (1969) (as reproduced in Project Gutenberg)
- In fact, God is of not so much importance in Himself, but as the end towards which man tends. That irreverent person who said that Browning uses “God” as a pigment made an accurate criticism of his theology. In Browning, God is adjective to man.
- Synonyms: dependent, derivative
- 1899, John Jay Chapman, Emerson and Other Essays, AMS Press (1969) (as reproduced in Project Gutenberg)
- (grammar) Adjectival; pertaining to or functioning as an adjective.
- Synonym: adjectival
- (law) Applying to methods of enforcement and rules of procedure.
- (Can we date this quote by Macaulay and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
- The whole English law, substantive and adjective.
- Synonym: procedural
- Antonym: substantive
- (Can we date this quote by Macaulay and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
- (chemistry, of a dye) Needing the use of a mordant to be made fast to that which is being dyed.
- Antonym: substantive
TranslationsEdit
incapable of independent function
adjectival — see adjectival
methods of enforcement and rules of procedure
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VerbEdit
adjective (third-person singular simple present adjectives, present participle adjectiving, simple past and past participle adjectived)
- (transitive) To make an adjective of; to form or convert into an adjective.
- (Can we date this quote by Tooke and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
- Language has as much occasion to adjective the distinct signification of the verb, and to adjective also the mood, as it has to adjective time. It has […] adjectived all three.
- 1832, William Hunter, An Anglo-Saxon grammar, and derivatives, page 46:
- In English, instead of adjectiving our own substantives, we have borrowed, in immense numbers, adjectived signs from other languages […]
- (Can we date this quote by Tooke and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
- (transitive, chiefly as a participle) To characterize with an adjective; to describe by using an adjective.
TranslationsEdit
To make an adjective of
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FrenchEdit
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
adjective
InterlingueEdit
NounEdit
adjective
LatinEdit
AdjectiveEdit
adjectīve
RomanianEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
adjective
ScotsEdit
EtymologyEdit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
NounEdit
adjective (plural adjectives)