privative

[priv-uh-tiv]

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adjective

causing, or tending to cause, deprivation.

consisting in or characterized by the taking away, loss, or lack of something.

Grammar. indicating negation or absence.

noun

Grammar. a privative element, as a- in asymmetric.

something that is deprived.

Origin of privative

1350–1400; Middle English privatif < Latin prīvātīvus. See private, -ive

Related formspriv·a·tive·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for privative

unfavorable, adverse, pessimistic, gloomy, weak, resisting, jaundiced, opposing, removed, contrary, con, recusant, refusing, anti, dissenting, denying, against, antagonistic, balky

Examples from the Web for privative

Historical Examples of privative

Blindness is a 'privative', to be blind is to be in a state of privation, but is not a 'privative'.
The Categories
Aristotle
It is a negative principle, and negative in the sense of privative.
Leibniz's New Essays Concerning the Human Understanding
John Dewey
Name from - privative and , foliage, alluding to the naked stalks.
The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States
Asa Gray
Ex, Latin prefix; privative in place of "e" when next letter is a vowel.
The Elements of Botany
Asa Gray
He contended that cold was probably only privative, and not a positive existence.
Heroes of Science: Physicists
William Garnett

British Dictionary definitions for privative

privative

adjective

causing privation

expressing lack or negation, as for example the English suffix -less and prefix un-

logic obsolete (of a proposition) that predicates a logical privation

Derived Formsprivatively, adverb

Word Origin for privative

C16: from Latin prīvātīvus indicating loss, negative

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

Word Origin and History for privative

adj.

1580s, "expressing negation" (as do the prefixes un-, a- (2), etc.), from Latin privativus "denoting privation, negative," from privatus, past participle of privare (see private).