ablative absolute

American  

noun

Latin Grammar.

1. a construction not dependent upon any other part of the sentence, consisting of a noun and a participle, noun and adjective, or two nouns, in which both members are in the ablative case, as Latin viā factā, “the road having been made.”

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ablative absolute British  

noun

1. an absolute construction in Latin grammar in which a governor noun and a modifier in the ablative case function as a sentence modifier; for example, hostibus victis, "the enemy having been beaten"

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Etymology

Origin of ablative absolute

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

But apparently, only a few youngsters mull over the ablative absolute out of sheer joy.

From Time Magazine Archive

And he says 'having no children'—in Latin the words may mean in case he had none, being in the ablative absolute.

From Sant' Ilario by Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)

Finding an ablative absolute, they are confident of finding some sort of proposition: and there it is, to their hand.

From Household Education by Martineau, Harriet

Impositis turribus is not the ablative absolute, but the ablative of the instrument.

From Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War by Watson, John Selby

He rose and flunked horribly in an attempt to classify an ablative absolute and answered "unprepared" when the Roman, maliciously pressing his advantage, insisted on his translating.

From Skippy Bedelle His Sentimental Progress From the Urchin to the Complete Man of the World by Fuhr, Ernest