augmentative
serving to augment.
Grammar. pertaining to or productive of a form denoting increased size or intensity. In Spanish the augmentative suffix -ón is added to a word (as silla “chair”) to indicate increased size, as in sillón “armchair.”
Grammar. an augmentative element or formation.
Origin of augmentative
1Other words from augmentative
- aug·men·ta·tive·ly, adverb
- non·aug·ment·a·tive, adjective, noun
- un·aug·ment·a·tive, adjective
Words Nearby augmentative
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use augmentative in a sentence
A diminutive hardly seems the right kind of word under the circumstances; an augmentative would, perhaps, have been better.
A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. II (of 2) | Georges PerrotNote:—The rle of augmentative and diminutive suffixes in English is vastly less important than in Italian.
Montessori Elementary Materials | Maria MontessoriThe augmentative forms, pre-eminently common in the Italian language, often carry with them a depreciating sense.
A Handbook of the English Language | Robert Gordon LathamThe MS. has Garees, a word not to be found in the dictionary, but evidently an augmentative of gara, a heron.
For the word wizard, from witch, see the section on augmentative forms.
A Handbook of the English Language | Robert Gordon Latham
British Dictionary definitions for augmentative
/ (ɔːɡˈmɛntətɪv) /
tending or able to augment
grammar
denoting an affix that may be added to a word to convey the meaning large or great; for example, the suffix -ote in Spanish, where hombre means man and hombrote big man
denoting a word formed by the addition of an augmentative affix
grammar an augmentative word or affix
- Compare (for senses 2, 3): diminutive
Derived forms of augmentative
- augmentatively, adverb
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
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