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genitive
6 dictionary results for: genitive
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
gen·i·tive       [jen-i-tiv] Pronunciation Key Grammar
–adjective
1.(in certain inflected languages) noting a case of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives, used primarily to express possession, measure, or origin: as John's hat, week's vacation, duty's call.
2.noting an affix or other element characteristic of this case, or a word containing such an element.
3.similar to such a case form in function or meaning.
–noun
4.the genitive case.
5.a word in the genitive case.
6.a construction noting this case or the relationship usually expressed by it.
Compare possessive.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < ML genitīvus, equiv. to genit(us) (ptp. of gignere to beget) + -īvus -ive]

—Related forms
gen·i·ti·val       [jen-i-tahy-vuhl] Pronunciation Key, adjective
gen·i·ti·val·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
gen·i·tive       (jěn'ĭ-tĭv)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.  
  1. Of, relating to, or being the grammatical case expressing possession, measurement, or source.
  2. Of or relating to an affix or construction, such as a prepositional phrase, characteristic of the genitive case.

n.  
  1. The genitive case.
  2. A word or form in the genitive case.


[Middle English genetif, from Latin genetīvus, from genitus, past participle of gignere, to beget; see genə- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
genitive 
1398, from L. casus genitivus "case expressing origin," from *geneta "birth," misused by L. grammarians to render Gk. genike (ptosis) "generic (case)," expressing race or kind (see genus).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
genitive

adjective
1. serving to express or indicate possession; "possessive pronouns"; "the genitive endings" [syn: possessive] 

noun
1. the case expressing ownership 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Genitive

Gen"i*tive\, a. [L. genitivus, fr. gignere, genitum, to beget: cf. F. g['e]nitif. See Gender.] (Gram.) Of or pertaining to that case (as the second case of Latin and Greek nouns) which expresses source or possession. It corresponds to the possessive case in English.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Genitive

Gen"i*tive\, n. (Gram.) The genitive case.

Genitive absolute, a construction in Greek similar to the ablative absolute in Latin. See Ablative absolute.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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