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ative

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-ative

a combination of -ate 1 and -ive, used to form adjectives from stems in -ate1 (regulative); on this model, because of the frequency and productivity of -ate 1 , used independently to form adjectives from stems of other origin: normative.

Origin:
< L -ātīvus, equiv. to -āt(us) -ate 1 + -īvus -ive
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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