defective
See also: défective
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English defectif, defective, from Old French defectif, from Late Latin dēfectīvus.[1]
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
defective (comparative more defective, superlative most defective)
- Having one or more defects.
- 2013 March, Morowitz, Harold J., “The Smallest Cell”, in American Scientist[1], volume 101, number 2, United States: Sigma Xi, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 83:
- It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted.
- (grammar, of a lexeme, especially a verb) Lacking some forms; e.g., having only one tense or being usable only in the third person.
- (Arabic grammar, of a verb) Having a root whose final consonant is weak (ي, و, or ء).
- (orthography, of a script) Not capable of representing all the phonemic distinctions of a language it is used to write.
- (chiefly of abjad script) Spelled without matres lectionis, for example אמץ (ómets, “courage”) as opposed to the plene spelling אומץ where the letter vav ⟨ו⟩ indicates the vowel o.
- Antonym: plene
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
CollocationsEdit
with nouns
- defective merchanise
- defective goods
- defective part
- defective component
- defective product
- defective equipment
- defective gene
- defective unit
- defective construction
- defective design
- defective drug
- defective memory
- defective wiring
- defective machine
- defective device
- defective instrument
- defective hardware
- defective software
- defective vehicle
TranslationsEdit
having one or more defects
|
having only some forms
|
AdverbEdit
defective (not comparable)
- (chiefly of abjad script) Without matres lectionis (letters indicating vowels) written out.
- Antonym: plene
- 2013, Gregor Geiger, Plene Writing of the Qōṭēl Pattern in the Dead Sea Scrolls:
- For the sake of comparison, note the distribution of these spellings in some other Hebrew sources: in the MT the vowel o after the first consonant of the root is written defective in approximately 3,600 cases as against 850 cases of plene spelling.
NounEdit
defective (plural defectives)
- A person or thing considered to be defective.
- 2007 January 15, Bernard E. Harcourt, “The Mentally Ill, Behind Bars”, in New York Times[2]:
- There were many more kinds of mental institutions at mid-century, ones for "mental defectives and epileptics" and the mentally retarded, psychiatric wards in veterans hospitals, as well as "psychopathic" and private mental hospitals.
- (chiefly of abjad script) A word written without matres lectionis (letters indicating vowels).
- Antonym: plene
- 2011, Christian D. Ginsburg, Jacob Ben Chajim Ibn Adonijah's Introduction to the Rabbinic Bible: Hebrew and English with Explanatory Notes:
- Thus, in the Pentateuch and in the earlier prophets the plenes are counted, whilst in the later prophets the defectives are enumerated.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “defective”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
InterlinguaEdit
AdjectiveEdit
defective (comparative plus defective, superlative le plus defective)
- defective (having defects)
LatinEdit
AdjectiveEdit
dēfective