accusative

American  

[uh-kyoo-zuh-tiv] / əˈkyu zə tɪv /

adjective

1. Grammar.

   1. (in certain inflected languages, as Latin, Greek, or Russian) noting a case whose distinctive function is to indicate the direct object of a verb or the object of certain prepositions.

   2. similar to such a case form in function or meaning.

2. Linguistics. pertaining to a type of language in which there is an accusative case or in which subjects of transitive verbs behave the same way as subjects of intransitive verbs.

3. accusatory.

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noun

1. an accusative case.

2. a word in an accusative case.

3. a form or construction of similar function.

accusative British  

/ əˌkjuːzəˈtaɪvəl, əˈkjuːzətɪv /

adjective

1. grammar denoting a case of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in inflected languages that is used to identify the direct object of a finite verb, of certain prepositions, and for certain other purposes See also objective

2. another word for accusatorial

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noun

1. grammar

   1. the accusative case

   2. a word or speech element in the accusative case

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-accusative
  adjective
• accusatively
  adverb
• accusatival
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of accusative

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French, or directly from Latin accūsātīvus, equivalent to ac-, a variant of the prefix ad- + -cūsātīvus, combining form of causātīvus “pertaining to a lawsuit; accusative (case) (as if a defendant in a lawsuit)”; loan translation of Greek aitiatikḗ, in the sense “pointing to the origin or cause, accusing;” in Stoic grammatical theory “that which is caused by the verb”; see ad-, causative

Example Sentences

In her country, Nadezhda Mandelstam's only published work is a doctoral thesis in English philology, entitled Functions of the Accusative Case on the Basis of Materials Drawn from Anglo-Saxon Poetic Monuments.

From Time Magazine Archive

Nominative la bona patro la bonaj patroj Accusative la bonan patron la bonajn patrojn.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 7 "Equation" to "Ethics" by Various

They always have -ī in the Ablative Singular, -ia in the Nominative, Accusative, and Vocative Plural, and -ium in the Genitive Plural, thus holding more steadfastly to the i-character than do Masculine and Feminine ĭ-Stems.

From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)

How were it possible that אמר with the Accusative should mean "to speak of something?"--עלה על־לב is, in a similar context, just as it is here, connected with זכר in Is. lxv.

From Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions. Vol. 2 by Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm

The objection that בעל, in the signification "to take in marriage" is construed with the Accusative only, is of no weight.

From Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions. Vol. 2 by Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm