genitive
Americanadjective
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(in certain inflected languages) noting a case of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives, used primarily to express possession, measure, or origin: as John's hat, week's vacation, duty's call.
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noting an affix or other element characteristic of this case, or a word containing such an element.
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similar to such a case form in function or meaning.
noun
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the genitive case.
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a word in the genitive case.
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a construction noting this case or the relationship usually expressed by it.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of genitive
1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin genitīvus, equivalent to genit ( us ) (past participle of gignere to beget) + -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:
The species name populi is a Latin singular noun in the genitive case meaning "of the people."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 7, 2026
During the Force Majeure show, Izzard gets to grips with German sentence structure and declensions, earning knowing applause from the Berlin crowd for his perfect use of the fiendishly tricky genitive case at one stage.
From Reuters ● Jan. 29, 2014
The genitive you are mine / is a phrase I cherished only when I'd moved on / and couldn't use it.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 20, 2013
The clumsy examples above show that long and complicated subjects are best left unmarked, whereas simpler ones like pronouns work well in the genitive, as in I appreciate your coming over to help.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
But that has nothing to do with the antecedent being in the genitive case; it’s just as much of a problem in Sophie and her mother think she’s fat.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Latin genitives, 117. similarity between Gothic and Latin, 127. genealogical relation of Latin to Greek, 172. the future in Latin, 230.
From Lectures on The Science of Language by Müller, Max
Very many of the Greek "genitives absolute," we remember, were to be rendered by quum, with a subjunctive pluperfect—an enormous mystery to us at the time.
From Toronto of Old by Scadding, Henry
In phrases such as “son of the father,” or “father of the son,” the genitives have the same effect.
From Lectures on The Science of Language by Müller, Max
If there is a succession of genitives, only the last noun can have an article.
From A Handbook of the Cornish Language chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature by Jenner, Henry
The explanation seems to be that these names are true genitives, and that John Parsons was John the Parson's man, while John Monks was employed by the monastery.
From The Romance of Names by Weekley, Ernest
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.
