vocative
Americanadjective
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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.
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of, relating to, or used in calling, specifying, or addressing.
noun
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the vocative case.
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a word in the vocative, as Latin Paule “O Paul.”
adjective
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relating to, used in, or characterized by calling
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grammar denoting a case of nouns, in some inflected languages, used when the referent of the noun is being addressed
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vocative
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin vocātīvus ( cāsus ) calling (case), equivalent to vocāt ( us ) ( see vocation) + -īvus -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.
I get pedantic about the placement of the vocative comma in “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.”
From The New Yorker • Dec. 18, 2018
Notice the abrupt change from third person "he" to vocative "thou" in the middle of verse four, the point at which the speaker is most in need of comfort.
From The Guardian • Feb. 7, 2011
Since Kunstler's role is usually to attack well-entrenched precedent he can be counted on for an original pro vocative argument.
From Time Magazine Archive
The use of the vocative, and of the pronoun thou is certainly calculated to mislead, and the appearance of inconsistency is hardly avoidable.
From Creed And Deed A Series of Discourses by Adler, Felix
It is a different word altogether, and is only the subjunctive of am, in the way puss is the vocative of cat.
From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
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.
