privative
Americanadjective
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causing, or tending to cause, deprivation.
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consisting in or characterized by the taking away, loss, or lack of something.
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Grammar. indicating negation or absence.
noun
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Grammar. a privative element, as a- in asymmetric.
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something that is deprived.
adjective
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causing privation
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expressing lack or negation, as for example the English suffix -less and prefix un-
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obsolete logic (of a proposition) that predicates a logical privation
Other Word Forms
- privatively adverb
Etymology
Origin of privative
1350–1400; Middle English privatif < Latin prīvātīvus. See private, -ive
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.
But Dr Bhar, a cosmetic surgeon who runs a privative clinic in Harley Street London, disagrees with the ban.
From BBC • Jan. 25, 2022
In pure thought we must understand the dichotomic process to be the distinction of a positive by a privative, both logical elements of the same thought, as I have elsewhere shown.
From The Religious Sentiment Its Source and Aim: A Contribution to the Science and Philosophy of Religion by Brinton, Daniel Garrison
The names called privative, therefore, connote two things; the absence of certain attributes, and the presence of others, from which the presence also of the former might naturally have been expected.
From A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive by Mill, John Stuart
These are the "Sif�t-i-Sab�tiah," or affirmative attributes, the privation of which would imply loss; there are also Sif�t-i-Salbiah, or privative attributes, such as—God has no form, is not limited by place, has no equal, &c.
From The Faith of Islam by Sell, Edward
In general perfection is positive, it is an absolute reality; defect is privative, it comes from limitation and tends towards new privations.
From Theodicy Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil by Huggard, E.M.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
