English - Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French ablatif (“the ablative case”), from Latin ablātīvus (“expressing removal”), from Latin ablātus (“taken away”), from Latin auferō (“I take away”). The engineering/nautical sense is a back-formation from ablate.

English - Pronunciation

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

English - 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. (obsolete) Pertaining to taking away or removing. [Attested from the mid 16^th century until the early 18^th century.]
   • Joseph Hall, 1622

     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.].
4. (medicine) Relating to the removal of a body part, tumor, or organ. [First attested in the mid 20^th century.]
5. (geology) Relating to the erosion of a land mass; relating to the melting or evaporation of a glacier. [First attested in the mid 20^th century.]

Derived terms

• ablativity

Translations

English - Noun

ablative (plural ablatives)

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

Translations

English - Derived Terms

• ablative absolute

English - References

1. ^ William Morris (editor), The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1971 [1969]; American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.; ISBN 0-395-09066-0), page 3
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7), page 5
3. ^ The Works of Joseph Hall: Sermons (http://books.google.com/books?id=6KA9AAAAYAAJ), page 123
4. ^ Elliott K. Dobbie, C. William Dunmore, Robert K. Barnhart, et al. (editors), Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2004 [1998], ISBN 0550142304), page 3

French - Adjective

ablative f

1. feminine form of ablatif

Italian - Adjective

ablative

1. feminine plural of ablativo

Latin - Adjective

ablative

1. vocative masculine singular of ablativus

قافية