vocative

[vok-uh-tiv]

adjective

1. Grammar.,  (in certain inflected languages, as Latin) noting or pertaining to a case used to indicate that a noun refers to a person or thing being addressed.

2. of, relating to, or used in calling, specifying, or addressing.

noun

Grammar.

1. the vocative case.

2. a word in the vocative, as Latin Paule “O Paul.”

vocative

/ ˈvɒkətɪv /

adjective

1. relating to, used in, or characterized by calling

2. grammar denoting a case of nouns, in some inflected languages, used when the referent of the noun is being addressed

noun

1. grammar

   1. the vocative case

   2. a vocative noun or speech element

Other Word Forms

• vocatively adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of vocative¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin vocātīvus ( cāsus ) calling (case), equivalent to vocāt ( us ) ( vocation ) + -īvus -ive

Word History and Origins

Origin of vocative¹

C15: from Latin phrase vocātīvus cāsus the calling case, from vocāre to call

Example Sentences

I get pedantic about the placement of the vocative comma in “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.”

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And I like Mitch most when he returns fire, peppering Matt, who is young and pretty, with a barrage of snarky vocatives.

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His first vocative expressed all, but he was a politician and used to elaborating his mental processes for the benefit of befuddled intellects.

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Lord Vanity, not feeling himself included in the last vocative, took a pinch of Rappee and gazed very fiercely at my Lady Bunbutter through the rheum and water of his ancient eyes.

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Now, Ma!" broke in Sophia, accompanying this vocative with a tart gesture of remonstrance, "Claire doesn't know a bit better than you or I do whether he was high-toned or not.

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Related Words

• artful 
• articulate 
• eloquent 
• facile 
• loquacious 
• talkative