factitive

American

[fak-ti-tiv] / ˈfæk tɪ tɪv /

adjective

Grammar.

noting or pertaining to verbs that express the idea of making or rendering in a certain way and that take a direct object and an additional word or group of words indicating the result of the process, as made in They made him king.

factitive British

/ ˈfæktɪtɪv /

adjective

grammar denoting a verb taking a direct object as well as a noun in apposition, as for example elect in they elected John president, where John is the direct object and president is the complement

"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

Other Word Forms

factitively

adverb

Etymology

Origin of factitive

1840–50; < New Latin factitīvus, equivalent to factit- (stem of Latin factitāre to do often, practice, declare (someone) to be) + -īvus -ive

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.

See Examples For:

factitive

Cf. etch, which comes, through Dutch, from Ger. ätzen, the factitive of essen, to eat.

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Ernest Weekley

This is also called the predicate objective or the factitive object.

From An English Grammar by James Witt Sewell

This word completing a transitive verb is sometimes called a factitive object, or second object, but it is a true complement.

From An English Grammar by James Witt Sewell

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023