optative

American  

[op-tuh-tiv] / ˈɒp tə tɪv /

adjective

1. designating or pertaining to a verb mood, as in Greek, that has among its functions the expression of a wish, as Greek íoimen “may we go, we wish we might go.”

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noun

1. the optative mood.

2. a verb in the optative mood.

optative British  

/ ˈɒptətɪv /

adjective

1. indicating or expressing choice, preference, or wish

2. grammar denoting a mood of verbs in Greek, Sanskrit, etc, expressing a wish

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noun

1. grammar

   1. the optative mood

   2. a verb in this mood

Other Word Forms

• optatively adverb

Etymology

Origin of optative

1520–30; < Late Latin optātīvus, equivalent to Latin optāt ( us ) (past participle of optāre; opt, -ate ¹ ) + -īvus -ive

Example Sentences

In the advanced seminar at Kanatsiohareke, Mina Beauvais, whose Mohawk name is Tewateronhiakhwa, was teaching students the optative, an arcane mood, akin to the subjunctive, that exists in Kurdish, Albanian, Navajo, Sanskrit, and ancient Greek.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 23, 2015

“Francis, you need the optative here instead of the subjunctive.”

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

But in determining accent final –αι– and –οι– are counted short except in the optative mode and in a few words, οἴμοι, οἴκοι.

From A Greek Primer For Beginners in New Testament Greek by Stearns, Wallace

Re prefixed to this tense turned it into a preterperfect in middle Cornish, but in the later form re is only used for the optative.

From A Handbook of the Cornish Language chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature by Jenner, Henry

If the particle tai is placed after the root there is formed a kind of future or optative by which the wish of the speaker is expressed.

From Diego Collado's Grammar of the Japanese Language by Spear, Richard L.