imperative

See also: impérative

English

Alternative forms

• imp., imper. (abbreviation, grammar)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin imperātīvus.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɛɹ.ə.tɪv/

Adjective

imperative (comparative more imperative, superlative most imperative)

1. Essential; crucial; extremely important.
   • It is imperative that you come here right now.
   • 2019, Con Man Games; SmashGames, quoting Felix, Kindergarten 2, SmashGames:

     Give this document to Ozzy. It's imperative that he reads and understands it. Got it?

2. (grammar) Of, or relating to the imperative mood.
3. (computing theory) Having a semantics that incorporates mutable variables.
4. Expressing a command; authoritatively or absolutely directive.

   imperative orders

   • Bishop Hall

     The suits of kings are imperative.

Translations

essential

• Arabic: أَسَاسِيّ‎ (ar) (ʾasāsiyy), ضَرُورِيّ‎ (ḍarūriyy)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 迫切的 (pòqiè de), 必須的, 必须的 (bìxū de), 至關重要的, 至关重要的 (zhìguānzhòngyào de)

• Czech: rozkazovací n
• Dutch: noodzakelijk (nl)
• Finnish: välttämätön (fi), pakollinen (fi)
• French: impératif (fr), essentiel (fr), indispensable (fr)
• German: essenziell (de), essentiell (de), notwendig (de), unverzichtbar (de), wesentlich (de)
• Greek: επιτακτικός (el) (epitaktikós)

• Icelandic: mikilvægur (is)
• Italian: imperativo (it) m, necessario (it) m, necessaria (it) f
• Korean: 긴요한 (ginyohan), 반드 필요한 (bandeu piryohan)
• Latin: necessus, necessum
• Portuguese: essencial (pt), imperativo (pt)
• Russian: обяза́тельный (ru) (objazátelʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: àithneach
• Spanish: imperativo (es) m
• Turkish: mecburi (tr), zorunlu (tr)

grammar: of, or relating to the imperative mood

• Bulgarian: повелителен (bg) (povelitelen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 祈使的 (qíshǐ de)

• Finnish: imperatiivinen (fi)

• Portuguese: imperativo (pt)
• Russian: повели́тельный (ru) (povelítelʹnyj)
• Swedish: imperativ (sv)
• Tagalog: pautos

computing: having semantics that incorporates mutable variables

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: imperatiivinen (fi)
• Russian: императи́вный (ru) (imperatívnyj)

authoritatively or absolutely directive

• Bulgarian: заповеднически (bg) (zapovedničeski), безапелационен (bg) (bezapelacionen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 命令式的 (mìnglìngshì de)

• Finnish: pakottava (fi)
• German: zwingend (de)

Noun

imperative (countable and uncountable, plural imperatives)

1. (uncountable, grammar) The grammatical mood expressing an order (see jussive). In English, the imperative form of a verb is the same as that of the bare infinitive.

   The verbs in sentences like "Do it!" and "Say what you like!" are in the imperative.

2. (countable, grammar) A verb in imperative mood.
3. (countable) An essential action, a must: something which is imperative.

   Visiting Berlin is an imperative.

   • 2014 March 1, Rupert Christiansen, “English translations rarely sing”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), page R19:

     Anything grandiose or historically based tends to sound flat and banal when it reaches English, partly because translators get stuck between contradictory imperatives: juggling fidelity to the original sense with what is vocally viable, they tend to resort to a genteel fustian which lacks either poetic resonance or demotic realism, adding to a sense of artificiality rather than enhancing credibility.

Synonyms

• (grammatical mood) imperative mood
• required

Coordinate terms

• (in grammar): assertoric, interrogative

Derived terms

• categorical imperative
• first imperative (Latin grammar)
• moral imperative
• second imperative (Latin grammar)

 

Translations

imperative mood — see imperative mood

verb in imperative

• Finnish: imperatiivi (fi)

• Polish: rozkaźnik m, imperatiwus m, imperativus (pl) m

essential action

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: must (nl) m
• Finnish: pakko (fi), pakollinen juttu
• French: impératif (fr) m
• German: Muss (de) n

• Icelandic: nauðsyn (is) f
• Italian: imperativo (it) m, necessario (it) m
• Latin: necessitās f, opus (la) n
• Maori: tūhau
• Portuguese: necessidade (pt) f
• Turkish: mecburiyet (tr), zorunluluk (tr)

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Italian

Adjective

imperative f pl

1. Feminine plural of adjective imperativo.

Anagrams

• riempivate

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Latin

Alternative forms

• inperātīvē

Etymology

From imperātīvus (“commanded”), from imperō (“command, order”), from im- (form of in) + parō (“prepare, arrange; intend”).

Adverb

imperātīvē (not comparable)

1. In an imperative manner, imperatively.

Related terms

• imperābiliter
• imperāns
• imperātīvus
• imperātōr
• imperātōriē
• imperātōrius
• imperātrīx
• imperātum
• imperātus
• imperiābiliter
• imperiālis
• imperiōsē
• imperiōsus
• imperitō
• imperium
• imperō

 

References

• imperative in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• imperative in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette