adjective
noun
- word that describes nouns
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L334275 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/ / /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɛk.tɪv/ / /ˈæd͡ʒ.ək.tɪv/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English adjectif, adjective, 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.
- Adjectival; pertaining to or functioning as an adjective.
- Applying to methods of enforcement and rules of procedure.
“The whole English law, substantive and adjective.”
- Needing the use of a mordant to be made fast to that which is being dyed.
- Incapable of independent function.
“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.”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English adjectif, adjective, 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.
- A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent.
“The words “big” and “heavy” are English adjectives.”
“"They'll have to invent new adjectives when I come back. You wait!"”
- A dependent; an accessory.
“it must be an adjective of dain”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English adjectif, adjective, 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.
- To make an adjective of; to form or convert into an adjective.
“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.”
“In English, instead of adjectiving our own substantives, we have borrowed, in immense numbers, adjectived signs from other languages[…]”
- To characterize with an adjective; to describe by using an adjective.
“For quotations using this term, see Citations:adjective.”