dative

[dey-tiv]Grammar

adjective

(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.

noun

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

Origin of dative

1400–50; late Middle English datif < Latin datīvus (casus) dative (case), equivalent to dat(us) given (see date¹) + -īvus -ive; translation of Greek dotikḗ (ptôsis)

Related formsda·ti·val

[dey-tahy-vuh l] /deɪˈtaɪ vəl/, adjectiveda·tive·ly, adverbnon·da·ti·val, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dative

Historical Examples of dative

Those in -em, -en generally retain the e in the dative plural.
A Middle High German Primer
Joseph Wright
Either accusative or dative would be acceptable enough with latere.
The Last Poems of Ovid
Ovid
The rule seems to have been disregarded when the leading Noun was in the Dative.
Elements of Gaelic Grammar
Alexander Stewart
The substitution of -n for -m in the dative case, hwilon for hwilum.
A Handbook of the English Language
Robert Gordon Latham
At present they are dative forms with an accusative meaning.
A Handbook of the English Language
Robert Gordon Latham

British Dictionary definitions for dative

dative

adjective

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

noun

1. the dative case
2. a word or speech element in this case

Derived Formsdatival (deɪˈtaɪvəl), adjectivedatively, adverb

Word Origin for dative

C15: from Latin datīvus, from dare to give; translation of Greek dotikos

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dative

adj.

mid-15c., from Latin dativus "pertaining to giving," from datus "given" (see date (n.1)); in grammatical use from Greek dotike (ptosis) "dative (case)," from dotikos "of giving nature," from dotos "given," from PIE root *do- "to give," from the same PIE root as the Latin word. In law, "that may be disposed of at pleasure," from 1530s.