Dictionary

elative en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ɪˈleɪtɪv/ (UK)

Etymology

From Latin ēlātus (“exalted, lofty, high”) + -ive. Possibly borrowed from German, which has produced a great deal of pioneering Semitist literature, and where Elativ is a common term for absolute superlative in all languages.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable, rare) Exalted; feeling elation.
   • And so the fleas, and flies in their degree, / By their attracted moyst humiditie, / Drawne from a certaine vertue elatiue, / Whence raine his generation doth deriue: / Seeke more than their accustom'd nutriment. 1595, Thomas Lodge, A fig for Momus:
   • whereas if one thinks instead that it is inflicted by others, then the elative feeling is one of masochism, which is quite rightly deemed a disease. 1984, Richard Taylor, Good and Evil: A New Direction: a Forceful Attack on the Rationalistic Tradition in Ethics, page 242:
   • The first case is that of E. M., 37 years of age, laborer, who on admission was elative, over-talkative, had a well marked feeling of well being. 1910 May 14, David Henderson, “The Diagnosis of Brain Syphilis”, in State Hospital Bullitens, volume III, number 1, [New York] State Commission in Lunacy:
   • Thither shall gratitude's feelings elative wend, / Bath'd in the dew of the soul's lofty swelling. 1838, James Struthers, Poetic Tales, page 125:

elative en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ɪˈleɪtɪv/ (UK)

Etymology

From Latin ēlātus (“exalted, lofty, high”) + -ive. Possibly borrowed from German, which has produced a great deal of pioneering Semitist literature, and where Elativ is a common term for absolute superlative in all languages.

Meanings

1. In Semitic languages, the “adjective degree of superiority”. In some languages such as Arabic, the concepts of comparative and superlative degree of an adjective are merged into a single form, the elative. How this form is understood or translated depends upon context and definiteness. In the absence of comparison, the elative conveys the notion of “greatest”, “supreme.”
   • The elative of كَبِير (kabīr, “big”) is أَكْبَر (ʔakbar, “bigger/biggest, greater/greatest”).

Forms

Translations (11)

cs elativ (elative degree of an adjective) · ru эляти́в (elative degree of an adjective) · gl elativo (elative degree of an adjective) · de elativisch (elative degree of an adjective) · fi elatiivi (elative degree of an adjective) · ru элати́в (elative degree of an adjective) · pl elativus (elative degree of an adjective) · fr élatif (elative degree of an adjective) · ar اِسْم تَفْضِيل (elative degree of an adjective) · es elativo (elative degree of an adjective) · la ēlātīvus (elative degree of an adjective)

elative en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ɪˈleɪtɪv/ (UK)

Etymology

From Latin ēlātus, perfect past participle of efferō (“to carry out or away”)

Meanings

1. In Finno-Ugric languages, one of the locative cases, expressing “out of,” or “from” as in Finnish talosta, Hungarian házból (“out of the house”). Its opposite is the illative case (“into”). In Finnish, the case form is used also to express "out of" or "proximity" in a figurative sense which in English is often conveyed by the word "about".

Forms

Relateds

superlative · absolute superlative · elative case · comparative superlative · positive · degrees of comparison · comparative · relative superlative

Translations (16)

et seestütlev (elative case of a noun) · hu elativus (elative case of a noun) · pl elativus (elative case of a noun) · pt elativo (elative case of a noun) · ru эляти́в (elative case of a noun) · uk елати́в (elative case of a noun) · cs elativ (elative case of a noun) · fr élatif (elative case of a noun) · fi sisäeronto (elative case of a noun) · es caso elativo (elative case of a noun) · uk еляти́в (elative case of a noun) · ja 出格 (elative case of a noun) · fi elatiivi (elative case of a noun) · et elatiiv (elative case of a noun) · ru элати́в (elative case of a noun) · de Elativ (elative case of a noun)