attributive

[uh-trib-yuh-tiv]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR attributive ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

pertaining to or having the character of attribution or an attribute.

Grammar. of or relating to an adjective or noun that is directly adjacent to, in English usually preceding, the noun it modifies, without any intervening linking verb, as the adjective sunny in a sunny day or the noun television in a television screen.

noun

Grammar. an attributive word, especially an adjective.

Origin of attributive

First recorded in 1600–10

Related formsat·trib·u·tive·ly, adverbat·trib·u·tive·ness, nounnon·at·trib·u·tive, adjectivenon·at·trib·u·tive·ly, adverbnon·at·trib·u·tive·ness, nounun·at·trib·u·tive, adjectiveun·at·trib·u·tive·ly, adverbun·at·trib·u·tive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for attributive

dependent, attribute, accessory, adjunct, modifier, identifier, qualifier, adnoun, additional, descriptive, attributive

Examples from the Web for attributive

Historical Examples of attributive

In other words, let the bodies be regarded as attributive and the forces as substantive.
The Approach to Philosophy
Ralph Barton Perry
Like other Participles it may be used either as Attributive or Predicate.
New Latin Grammar
Charles E. Bennett
In such an interpretation nearly all the attributive features of these witnesses are ignored.
The Lost Ten Tribes, and 1882
Joseph Wild
We will notice the attributive features of these witnesses as they are related by John in this chapter—that is, Rev. xi.
The Lost Ten Tribes, and 1882
Joseph Wild
Attributive adjectives and adverbs, and their equivalents, are placed before nouns and verbs they modify.
The Japanese Spirit
Yoshisaburo Okakura

British Dictionary definitions for attributive

attributive

adjective

relating to an attribute

grammar (of an adjective or adjectival phrase) modifying a noun and constituting part of the same noun phrase, in English normally preceding the noun, as black in Fido is a black dog (as opposed to Fido is black)Compare predicative

philosophy relative to an understood domain, as small in that elephant is small

noun

an attributive adjective

Derived Formsattributively, adverbattributiveness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for attributive

adj.

c.1600, from French attributif, from stem of Latin attributus (see attribute (v.)). As a noun, in grammar, from 1750. Related: Attributively; attributiveness.