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

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

In the Greek language this is expressed by a difference of mood; the subjunctive being the construction equivalent to may, the optative to might.

From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)

Schneider, Kühner, and some other editors have ἡγοῦντο but Poppo and Dindorf seem to be right in adopting the present, notwithstanding the following optative.

From The First Four Books of Xenophon's Anabasis by Watson, John Selby

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.