copulative

American  

[kop-yuh-ley-tiv, -luh-tiv] / ˈkɒp yəˌleɪ tɪv, -lə tɪv /

adjective

1. serving to unite or couple.

2. Grammar.

   1. involving or consisting of connected words or clauses.

      a copulative sentence.

   2. pertaining to or serving as a copula; serving to connect subject and complement.

      a copulative verb.

   3. serving to connect nouns, noun phrases, verbs, clauses, etc..

      a copulative conjunction.

   4. of the dvandva type.

      Bittersweet is a copulative compound.

3. of or relating to sexual intercourse.

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noun

1. Grammar. a copulative word.

copulative British  

/ ˈkɒpjʊlətɪv /

adjective

1. serving to join or unite

2. of or characteristic of copulation

3. grammar (of a verb) having the nature of a copula

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Other Word Forms

• copulatively adverb

Etymology

Origin of copulative

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English copulatif, from Middle French copulatif, copulative, from Late Latin cōpulātīvus; copulate, -ive

Example Sentences

The copulative or enumerative conjunctions, have only two degrees.

From Delsarte System of Oratory by Various

But the conjunction is often omitted in copulative and adversative clauses, as in Sec.

From An English Grammar by Sewell, James Witt

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 Carman, Bliss

Thou, nukw; copulative prefixed, chin; suffixed, hu; or in the imperative, chi.

From Alphabetical Vocabularies of the Clallum and Lummi by Gibbs, George

Conjunctions copulative and disjunctive, couple like cases, moods, and tenses, as Socrates docuit Xenophontem et Platonem geographiam, astronomiam, et rationem globorum: Socrates taught Xenophon and Plato geography, astronomy, and the use of the globes.

From The Comic Latin Grammar A new and facetious introduction to the Latin tongue by Leech, John