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

The ending -ă in the Accusative Singular; as, aetheră, aether; Salamīnă, Salamis.

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

Accusative, formation of the, in Chinese, 118 note.

From Lectures on The Science of Language by Müller, Max

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

Accusative in am, as infinitive, 50. —— in tum, as infinitive, 55. —— with the infinitive, 38.

From Chips from a German Workshop - Volume IV Essays chiefly on the Science of Language by Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)