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
English - Adjective
- (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).]
- (obsolete) Pertaining to taking away or removing. [Attested from the mid 16th century until the early 18th century.]
- (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.].
- (medicine) Relating to the removal of a body part, tumor, or organ. [First attested in the mid 20th century.]
- (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.]
Derived terms
Translations
English - Noun
- (grammar) The ablative case. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
- An ablative material. [Mid 20th century.]
Translations
English - References
- ^ 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
- ↑ 2.0 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
- ^ The Works of Joseph Hall: Sermons (http://books.google.com/books?id=6KA9AAAAYAAJ), page 123
- ^ 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