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

noun

1. grammar a partitive linguistic element or feature

Other Word Forms

• partitively adverb
• unpartitive adjective

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of partitive¹

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

Example Sentences

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

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

The partitive article is used precisely as in French.

From Project Gutenberg

All these may also be used partitively; as, "Nearly all of us."

From Project Gutenberg

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.

From Project Gutenberg