correlative
Americanadjective
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so related that each implies or complements the other.
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being in correlation; mutually related.
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Grammar. answering to or complementing one another and regularly used in association, as either and or, not only and but.
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Biology. (of a typical structure of an organism) found in correlation with another.
noun
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either of two things, as two terms, that are correlative.
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Grammar. a correlative expression.
adjective
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in mutual, complementary, or reciprocal relationship; corresponding
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denoting words, usually conjunctions, occurring together though not adjacently in certain grammatical constructions, as for example neither and nor in such sentences as he neither ate nor drank
noun
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either of two things that are correlative
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a correlative word
Other Word Forms
- correlatively adverb
- correlativeness noun
- correlativity noun
- noncorrelative adjective
- noncorrelatively adverb
- noncorrelativeness noun
- uncorrelative adjective
- uncorrelatively adverb
- uncorrelativeness noun
- uncorrelativity noun
Etymology
Origin of correlative
From the Medieval Latin word correlātīvus, dating back to 1520–30. See cor-, relative
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Because it is indeed difficult to separate the casual from the correlative, even the authors of the new Nature Climate Change agree that further research is needed to prove those links are more than correlation.
From Salon
Additional studies with larger cohorts of patients and correlative imaging beyond three months may help determine the therapeutic role of light in traumatic brain injury.
From Science Daily
Swan added, "Separating the causal from the correlative is extremely difficult, as you know!"
From Salon
Previous correlative results have also suggested that an MN-mediated innate immune response may slow cellular senescence and suppress cancer.
From Science Daily
Anderson, himself something of a master of counterintuitive alternatives, gives this idea its own fascinating cinematic correlative.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.