copulative
Americanadjective
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serving to unite or couple.
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Grammar.
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involving or consisting of connected words or clauses.
a copulative sentence.
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pertaining to or serving as a copula; serving to connect subject and complement.
a copulative verb.
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serving to connect nouns, noun phrases, verbs, clauses, etc..
a copulative conjunction.
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of the dvandva type.
Bittersweet is a copulative compound.
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of or relating to sexual intercourse.
noun
adjective
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serving to join or unite
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of or characteristic of copulation
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grammar (of a verb) having the nature of a copula
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of copulative
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English copulatif, from Middle French copulatif, copulative, from Late Latin cōpulātīvus; see copulate, -ive
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.
Conjunctions are divided into two general classes, copulative and disjunctive; and a few of each class are particularly distinguished from the rest, as being corresponsive.
From The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown
In such a sentence as, "He that cometh to God must believe that He is," the word is means exists.Verbs that are like the copula, such as, appear, become, seem, etc., are called copulative verbs.
From Composition-Rhetoric by Stratton D. Brooks
To speak in academical language, the conjunction in this case is the disjunctive 'or,' not the copulative 'and.'
From History of American Socialisms by John Humphrey Noyes
The males of nearly all Cephalopoda have been shown to be characterized by a peculiar modification of the arm-like processes or lobes of the fore-foot, connected with the copulative function.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various
The time is not long past when the copulative in that title might have suggested to some minds an antithesis,—as acid and alkali, or heat and cold.
From The World's Best Poetry, Volume 4 The Higher Life by Bliss Carman
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.
