correlative

American  

[kuh-rel-uh-tiv] / kəˈrɛl ə tɪv /

especially British, corelative

adjective

1. so related that each implies or complements the other.

2. being in correlation; mutually related.

3. Grammar. answering to or complementing one another and regularly used in association, as either and or, not only and but.

4. Biology. (of a typical structure of an organism) found in correlation with another.

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noun

1. either of two things, as two terms, that are correlative.

2. Grammar. a correlative expression.

correlative British  

/ kɒˈrɛlətɪv /

adjective

1. in mutual, complementary, or reciprocal relationship; corresponding

2. 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

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noun

1. either of two things that are correlative

2. 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

“What I tell people is that these studies are correlative, not causative,” says Weiss.

From Slate • Aug. 12, 2024

Additional studies with larger cohorts of patients and correlative imaging beyond three months may help determine the therapeutic role of light in traumatic brain injury.

From Science Daily • May 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

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

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