attributive
Americanadjective
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pertaining to or having the character of attribution or an attribute.
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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
adjective
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relating to an attribute
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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
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philosophy relative to an understood domain, as small in that elephant is small
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of attributive
First recorded in 1600–10
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.
I make my bread deciding whether a word is an attributive noun or adjective, parsing adverbial uses over conjunctive uses, writing those delightfully boring usage notes in your dictionary.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 4, 2013
In such an interpretation nearly all the attributive features of these witnesses are ignored.
From The Lost Ten Tribes, and 1882 by Joseph Wild
Milton inserts the adverbial clause in the predicate, which is not unusual; he then adds an attributive clause, which is not usual in English, though common in Greek and Latin.
From Milton's Comus by William Bell
Quality, etc., denoted by an attributive; an attributive adjunct or adjective.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Noah Webster
‘Let there not be a superfluous or unnecessary sound until we come.’ ‘waste’ is an attributive: see note, l.
From Milton's Comus by William Bell
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.
