Definition of ACCUSATIVE

accusative

Meanings

Plural: accusatives

Noun

  • the case of nouns serving as the direct object of a verb
  • The accusative case.
  • A word inflected in the accusative case.

Adjective Satellite

  • containing or expressing accusation; ; ; - O.Henry

Adjective

  • serving as or indicating the object of a verb or of certain prepositions and used for certain other purposes
    • "accusative endings"

Adj

  • Producing accusations; in a manner that reflects a finding of fault or blame
  • Applied to the case (as the fourth case of Latin, Lithuanian and Greek nouns) which expresses the immediate object on which the action or influence of a transitive verb has its limited influence. Other parts of speech, including secondary or predicate direct objects, will also influence a sentence’s construction. In German the case used for direct objects.

Origin / Etymology

First attested in the mid 15th century. From Middle English accusative, from Anglo-Norman accusatif or Middle French acusatif or from Latin accūsātīvus (“having been blamed”), from accūsō (“to blame”). Equivalent to accuse + -ative. The Latin form is a mistranslation of the Ancient Greek grammatical term αἰτιᾱτική (aitiātikḗ, “expressing an effect”). This term actually comes from αἰτιᾱτός (aitiātós, “caused”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, adjective suffix), but was reanalyzed as coming from αἰτιᾱ- (aitiā-), the stem of the verb αἰτιάομαι (aitiáomai, “to blame”), + -τῐκός (-tĭkós, verbal adjective suffix).

Synonyms

A., acc., accusative case, accusatorial, accusatory, accusing, accusive, objective, objective case

Scrabble Score: 17

accusative is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
accusative is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
accusative is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 21

accusative is a valid Words With Friends word