ablative

See also: Ablative

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English [Term?], from Old French ablatif (“the ablative case”), from Latin ablātīvus (“expressing removal”),[1] from ablātus (“taken away”), from auferō (“I take away”). The engineering/nautical sense originates from ablate + -ive.

Pronunciation
  • (grammar): (US) IPA(key): /ˈæb.lə.tɪv/
  • (engineering, nautical): IPA(key): /əˈbleɪ.tɪv/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Adjective

ablative (not comparable)

  1. (grammar) Applied to one of the cases of the noun in some languages, the fundamental meaning of the case being removal, separation, or taking away, and to a lesser degree, instrument, place, accordance, specifications, price, or measurement. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][2]
  2. (obsolete) Pertaining to taking away or removing. [Attested from the mid 16th century until the early 18th century.][2]
    • 1622, Joseph Hall, The Works of Joseph Hall: Sermons‎, page 123:
      Where the heart is forestalled with misopinion, ablative directions are found needful to unteach error, ere we can learn truth.
  3. (engineering, nautical) Sacrificial, wearing away or being destroyed in order to protect the underlying, as in ablative paints used for antifouling. [First attested in 1959.][3].
  4. (medicine) Relating to the removal of a body part, tumor, or organ. [First attested in the mid 20th century.][2]
  5. (geology) Relating to the erosion of a land mass; relating to the melting or evaporation of a glacier. [First attested in the mid 20th century.][2]

Derived terms

Translations
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Translations to be checked

Noun

ablative (plural ablatives)

  1. (grammar) The ablative case. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
  2. An ablative material. [Mid 20th century.][2]

Translations
ablative case — see ablative case

Derived terms

References
  1. “ablative” in William Morris, editor, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, New York, N.Y.: American Heritage Publishing Co., 1971 [1969], OCLC 299754516, page 3.
  2. “ablative” in Lesley Brown, editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 5.
  3. Elliott K. Dobbie, C. William Dunmore, Robert K. Barnhart, et al. (editors), Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2004 [1998], →ISBN), page 3

French

Adjective

ablative

  1. feminine singular of ablatif

Italian

Adjective

ablative

  1. Feminine plural of adjective ablativo.

Latin

Adjective

ablative

  1. vocative masculine singular of ablativus
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