dative

American  

[dey-tiv] / ˈdeɪ tɪv /

adjective

1. (in certain inflected languages, as Latin, Greek, and German) noting a case having as a distinctive function indication of the indirect object of a verb or the object of certain prepositions.

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noun

1. the dative case.

2. a word or form in that case, as Latin regi in regi haec dicite meaning “tell this to the king.”

dative British  

/ ˈdeɪtɪv, deɪˈtaɪvəl /

adjective

1. denoting a case of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives used to express the indirect object, to identify the recipients, and for other purposes

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noun

1. 1. the dative case

   2. a word or speech element in this case

Other Word Forms

• datival
  adjective
• datively
  adverb
• nondatival
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of dative

1400–50; late Middle English datif < Latin datīvus ( casus ) dative (case), equivalent to dat ( us ) given ( see date ¹) + -īvus -ive; translation of Greek dotikḗ ( ptôsis )

Example Sentences

My teacher was a stickler who was worried about the decline of the dative case, and who discouraged me from using expressions I picked up on the street.

From New York Times • Sep. 11, 2020

It could never tell you if a pronoun took the dative or the accusative case.

From New York Times • Dec. 14, 2016

Prepositional dative: Jocasta handed the infant to her servant.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Double-object dative: Jocasta handed her servant the infant.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

“We were going to use a dative or an accusative here but he suggested locative?”

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt