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; see opt, -ate ¹) + -īvus -ive

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

optative

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

An optative of this nature in the Lule language has already been mentioned.

From The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt With the Translation of an Unpublished Memoir by Him on the American Verb by Brinton, Daniel Garrison

My dearest Mr. Boyd,—I wish I had a note from you to-day—which optative aorist I am not sure of being either grammatical or reasonable!

From The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1 of 2) by Kenyon, Frederic G. (Frederic George), Sir

Throughout the Greek classical period the moods are maintained, but in the period of the κοινή the optative occurs less and less and finally disappears.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various