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adjective

See also: adjectivé

Contents

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Old French adjectif, from Latin adiectīvum, from ad (“next to”) + -iect-, perfect passive participle of iaciō (“throw”) + -īvus, adjective ending; hence, a word "thrown next to" a noun, modifying it. This 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

  • IPA(key): /ˈæ.d͡ʒɪk.tɪv/, /ˈæ.d͡ʒə(k).tɪv/
  • Audio (GA)
    		(file)

AdjectiveEdit

adjective (not comparable)

  1. (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
  2. (grammar) Adjectival; pertaining to or functioning as an adjective.
    Synonyms: adjectival
  3. (law) Applying to methods of enforcement and rules of procedure.
    • Macaulay
      The whole English law, substantive and adjective.
    Synonyms: procedural
    Antonyms: substantive
  4. (chemistry, of a dye) Needing the use of a mordant to be made fast to that which is being dyed.
    Antonyms: substantive

TranslationsEdit

adjectival — see adjectival

NounEdit

adjective (plural adjectives)

 
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  1. (grammar) A word that modifies a noun or describes a noun’s referent.
    The words “big” and “heavy” are English adjectives.
  2. (obsolete) A dependent; an accessory.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Fuller to this entry?)

SynonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

Terms derived from adjective

TranslationsEdit

VerbEdit

adjective (third-person singular simple present adjectives, present participle adjectiving, simple past and past participle adjectived)

  1. (transitive) To make an adjective of; to form or convert into an adjective.
    • Tooke
      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 […]

TranslationsEdit

FrenchEdit

AdjectiveEdit

adjective

  1. feminine singular of adjectif

InterlingueEdit

NounEdit

adjective

  1. (grammar) adjective

LatinEdit

AdjectiveEdit

adjectīve

  1. vocative masculine singular of adjectīvus

RomanianEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

adjective

  1. plural of adjectiv

ScotsEdit

EtymologyEdit

  This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this term, please add it to the page per etymology instructions. You can also discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.

NounEdit

adjective (plural adjectives)

  1. (grammar) adjective
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