correlative
Americanadjective
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so related that each implies or complements the other.
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being in correlation; mutually related.
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Grammar. answering to or complementing one another and regularly used in association, as either and or, not only and but.
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Biology. (of a typical structure of an organism) found in correlation with another.
noun
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either of two things, as two terms, that are correlative.
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Grammar. a correlative expression.
adjective
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in mutual, complementary, or reciprocal relationship; corresponding
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denoting words, usually conjunctions, occurring together though not adjacently in certain grammatical constructions, as for example neither and nor in such sentences as he neither ate nor drank
noun
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either of two things that are correlative
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a correlative word
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of correlative
From the Medieval Latin word correlātīvus, dating back to 1520–30. See cor-, relative
Vocabulary lists containing correlative
Lesson 2
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Lesson 1
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Part 2 Literary Terms (Unit 1)
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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.
"Our study shows that advanced correlative methods can reveal changes in this hidden organization that are not apparent from morphology alone."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
“What I tell people is that these studies are correlative, not causative,” says Weiss.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2024
Swan added, "Separating the causal from the correlative is extremely difficult, as you know!"
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2024
Anderson, himself something of a master of counterintuitive alternatives, gives this idea its own fascinating cinematic correlative.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2023
He pointed out that, far from our being made in the image of God, we make our gods in our own image: ‘we forge for ourselves the attributes of God, taking ourselves as the correlative.’
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
