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

She could never master the ablative absolute, nor what used to be called at Brossard's le que retranché, nor see the necessity of demonstrating by A + B what was sufficiently obvious to her without.

From The Martian by Du Maurier, George

Zamenhof states that the "ablative absolute" does not exist in Esperanto, as its use would be against the spirit of the language.

From The International Auxiliary Language Esperanto Grammar and Commentary by Cox, George

The ablative absolute, so strongly characteristic of classical Latin, is never found, or only in one doubtful instance.

From The History of Roman Literature From the earliest period to the death of Marcus Aurelius by Cruttwell, Charles Thomas

I do hope these chameleon artists will leave us the multiplication table, the yardstick, and the ablative absolute.

From Reveries of a Schoolmaster by Pearson, Francis B.