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partitive

[pahr-ti-tiv]

adjective

  1. serving to divide into parts.

  2. Grammar.,  noting part of a whole.

    the Latin partitive genitive.



noun

  1. Grammar.,  a partitive word or formation, as of the men in half of the men.

partitive

/ ˈpɑːtɪtɪv /

adjective

  1. grammar indicating that a noun involved in a construction refers only to a part or fraction of what it otherwise refers to. The phrase some of the butter is a partitive construction; in some inflected languages it would be translated by the genitive case of the noun

  2. serving to separate or divide into parts

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. grammar a partitive linguistic element or feature

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Word Forms

  • partitively adverb
  • unpartitive adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of partitive1

1510–20; < Medieval Latin partītīvus divisive, equivalent to Latin partīt ( us ), past participle of partīrī to divide ( party ) + -īvus -ive
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Word History and Origins

Origin of partitive1

C16: from Medieval Latin partītīvus serving to divide, from Latin partīre to divide
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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.

All is used with of, like a partitive; as, all of a thing, all of us.

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It is not a predicate adjective, but a partitive genitive after hwæt.

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The partitive article is used precisely as in French.

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Dr. Johnson seems to suppose that the partitive use of these words makes them nouns; as, "They have much of the poetry of Mecænas, but little of his liberality."—DRYDEN: in Joh.

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These three parts are: first, nouns—the names of things; second, verbs—the names of events; and, third, the partitives—or the words which express the relations of things to events.

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