gerundive

American  

[juh-ruhn-div] / dʒəˈrʌn dɪv /

noun

1. (in Latin) a verbal adjective similar to the gerund in form and noting the obligation, necessity, or worthiness of the action to be done, as legendus in Liber legendus est, “The book is worth reading.”

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adjective

1. resembling a gerund.

gerundive British  

/ ˌdʒɛrənˈdaɪvəl, dʒɪˈrʌndɪv /

noun

1. (in Latin grammar) an adjective formed from a verb, expressing the desirability of the activity denoted by the verb

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adjective

1. of or relating to the gerund or gerundive

Other Word Forms

• gerundival
  adjective
• nongerundive
  adjective
• gerundively
  adverb
• nongerundively
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of gerundive

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English word from Late Latin word gerundīvus. See gerund, -ive

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gerundive

Dink Stover, later to win fame at Yale, carried his whole Latin class by signalling with a pair of mobile ears whenever The Roman, their teacher, asked his favorite question, "Gerund or gerundive?"

From Time Magazine Archive

The potency of right methods.—A teacher of Latin once used twenty minutes in a violent attempt to explain the difference between the gerund construction and the gerundive construction.

From The Vitalized School by Pearson, Francis B.

Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me the notably prosaic use of the defining gerundive.

From The Last Poems of Ovid by Akrigg, Mark Bear

Go down to the next paragraph and recognize a gerundive.

From The Varmint by Gruger, Frederic Rodrigo

This gerundive use of the infinitive is very common in this play.

From The New Hudson Shakespeare: Julius Cæsar by Black, Ebenezer Charlton