disjunctive

[ dis-juhngk-tiv ]

adjective
  1. serving or tending to disjoin; separating; dividing; distinguishing.

  2. Grammar.

    • syntactically setting two or more expressions in opposition to each other, as but in poor but happy, or expressing an alternative, as or in this or that.

    • not syntactically dependent upon some particular expression.

  1. Logic.

    • characterizing propositions that are disjunctions.

    • (of a syllogism) containing at least one disjunctive proposition as a premise.

noun
  1. a statement, course of action, etc., involving alternatives.

  1. Grammar. a disjunctive word.

Origin of disjunctive

1
1400–50; late Middle English <Late Latin disjunctīvus placed in opposition, equivalent to Latin disjunct(us) (see disjunct) + -īvus-ive

Other words from disjunctive

  • dis·junc·tive·ly, adverb
  • non·dis·junc·tive, adjective
  • non·dis·junc·tive·ly, adverb

Words Nearby disjunctive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use disjunctive in a sentence

  • Iéu (je), tu (tu), and éu (il) are used as disjunctive forms, in contrast with the French.

    Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred Downer
  • Or should we say that the note omitted was not Nt, but the present Parames and the interval of a tone (i.e. the disjunctive tone)?

    The Modes of Ancient Greek Music | David Binning Monro
  • The disjunctive forms of the pronoun are also sometimes preserved before verbs and adjectives.

    The Indian in his Wigwam | Henry R. Schoolcraft
  • Again, "the former does not belong to pure categoricals," it is simply disjunctive.

  • The chestnut, belonging to the order Cupuliferæ, has an extended but disjunctive natural area.

    Origin of Cultivated Plants | Alphonse De Candolle

British Dictionary definitions for disjunctive

disjunctive

/ (dɪsˈdʒʌŋktɪv) /


adjective
  1. serving to disconnect or separate

  2. grammar

    • denoting a word, esp a conjunction, that serves to express opposition or contrast: but in the sentence She was poor but she was honest

    • denoting an inflection of pronouns in some languages that is used alone or after a preposition, such as moi in French

  1. Also: alternative logic relating to, characterized by, or containing disjunction

noun
  1. grammar

    • a disjunctive word, esp a conjunction

    • a disjunctive pronoun

  2. logic a disjunctive proposition; disjunction

Derived forms of disjunctive

  • disjunctively, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012