optative
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- (abbreviation, grammar): opt.
Etymology edit
From Middle French optatif, from Late Latin optātīvus, a calque of Ancient Greek εὐκτική (euktikḗ, “related to wishing”), from Latin optātus, past participle of optāre.
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /ˈɒptətɪv/, /ɒpˈteɪtɪv/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Hyphenation: op‧ta‧tive
- Rhymes: -eɪtɪv
Adjective edit
optative (not comparable)
- Expressing a wish or a choice.
- a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, →OCLC:
- an optative blessing
- 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 64:
- […] then, in the optative retirement from hard science that building and opening a U.S.T.A-accredited and pedagogically experimental tennis academy apparently represented for him […]
- (grammar) Related or pertaining to the optative mood.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
expressing a wish
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pertaining to the optative mood
Noun edit
optative (plural optatives)
- (grammar) A mood of verbs found in some languages (e.g. Sanskrit, Old Prussian, and Ancient Greek, but not English), used to express a wish.
- (grammar) A verb or expression in the optative mood.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
optative
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See also edit
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Adjective edit
optative
Latin edit
Adjective edit
optātīve