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
- correlatively adverb
- correlativeness noun
- correlativity noun
- noncorrelative adjective
- noncorrelatively adverb
- noncorrelativeness noun
- uncorrelative adjective
- uncorrelatively adverb
- uncorrelativeness noun
- uncorrelativity noun
Etymology
Origin of correlative
From the Medieval Latin word correlātīvus, dating back to 1520–30. See cor-, relative
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.
Previous correlative results have also suggested that an MN-mediated innate immune response may slow cellular senescence and suppress cancer.
From Science Daily • Mar. 11, 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
There’s a method in genetics called Mendelian randomization that mimics a randomized controlled trial, so we can test for causal and not correlative associations between different foods and different diseases.
From Scientific American • Aug. 1, 2023
"There is no power relation without the correlative constitution of a field of knowledge, nor any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time power relations."
From Salon • Feb. 7, 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
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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.