vocative
noun
- in syntax, term that refers to the addressee, and does not belong to either subject or predicate
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L342405 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈvɑkətɪv/ / /ˈvoʊkətɪv/ / /ˈvɒkətɪv/
adj
Etymology: From Late Middle English [Term?], borrowed from Middle French vocatif, from Latin vocātīvus (“for calling”); a calque of Ancient Greek κλητῐκή (klētĭkḗ, “for calling; vocative case”) – from vocāre (“to call”), from Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-, o-grade of *wekʷ- (“give vocal utterance, speak”). See Latin vōx.
- Of or pertaining to calling; used in calling or vocation.
- Used in address; appellative; said of the case or form of the noun, pronoun, or adjective by which a person or thing is addressed.
“In English, the vocative may be indicated by an addressee–address separation comma, or by the particle O, as in "What is the matter, sir?", "Mother, listen!", or "O Lord".”
noun
Etymology: From Late Middle English [Term?], borrowed from Middle French vocatif, from Latin vocātīvus (“for calling”); a calque of Ancient Greek κλητῐκή (klētĭkḗ, “for calling; vocative case”) – from vocāre (“to call”), from Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-, o-grade of *wekʷ- (“give vocal utterance, speak”). See Latin vōx.
- The vocative case
- A word in the vocative case
- A vocative expression
- Something said to (or as though to) a particular person or thing; an entreaty, an invocation.
“[T]he two latter will hardly come neither, if they think it will be to hear your whining vocatives.”