inchoative en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ɪnˈkoʊətɪv/ (US)
- /ɪnˈkəʊ.ə.tɪv/ (UK)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin inchoātīvus, formed by metathesis from incohātīvus, from incohō (“to begin”). Compare French inchoatif.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Initial; as yet unformed; inchoate.
[T]he day-Star […] ſhall be riſen in our hearts; vvhereof theſe acts of our intellect ſeem to be ſome inchoative or imperfect rays, […]
1648, Walter Montagu, “The One and Twentieth Treatise. Of the Preheminences of a True Contemplative Life. §. I. Contemplation Defined, and Some Excellencies thereof Discoursed.”, in Miscellanea Spiritualia: Or, Devout Essaies, London: […] W[illiam] Lee, D[aniel] Pakeman, and G[abriel] Bedell, […], →OCLC, page 387:Our first Piece is of Winter, or late Autumn, 1771,—while the solution of the Polish Business is still in its inchoative stages; …
1858–1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:
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(not-comparable) Aspectually indicating that a state is about to be entered or is in the process of being entered.
The inchoative (inceptive) aspect of a verb expresses the beginning of an action. Example: He is beginning to crawl.
1974, Floyd L. Moreland, Rita M. Fleischer, Latin: An Intensive Course, University of California Press, page 12:
- (not-comparable) In Catalan, being a member of a class of third-conjugation verbs (e.g. servir) in which a syllable -eix- (or otherwise depending on dialect), derived from the Latin inchoative but now without meaning, is inserted into certain conjugations (e.g. serveixo).
Deriveds
inchoatively · uninchoative · inchoativeness
Relateds
inchoate · fientive · inceptive
Translations (15)
es incoativo (as yet unformed) · fi inkoatiivinen (grammar: aspectually indicating that an action is to begin) · fi aloitteleva (as yet unformed) · el αρκτικός (grammar: aspectually indicating that an action is to begin) · nb inkoativ (grammar: aspectually indicating that an action is to begin) · es incoativo (grammar: aspectually indicating that an action is to begin) · de inchoativ (as yet unformed) · nl inchoatief (as yet unformed) · hu inchoatív (grammar: aspectually indicating that an action is to begin) · la inchoativus (as yet unformed) · nl inchoatief (grammar: aspectually indicating that an action is to begin) · pt incoativo (grammar: aspectually indicating that an action is to begin) · fi alku- (as yet unformed) · ja 起動相 (grammar: aspectually indicating that an action is to begin) · el εναρκτικός (grammar: aspectually indicating that an action is to begin)