optative

English

Alternative forms

  • (abbreviation, grammar): opt.

Etymology

From Middle French optatif, from Late Latin optātīvus, a calque of Ancient Greek εὐκτική (euktikḗ, “related to wishing”), from Latin optātus, past participle of optāre.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɒptətɪv/, /ɒpˈteɪtɪv/
  • Hyphenation: op‧ta‧tive
  • Rhymes: -eɪtɪv

Adjective

optative (not comparable)

  1. Expressing a wish or a choice.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Fuller to this entry?)
  2. (grammar) Related or pertaining to the optative mood.

Noun

optative (plural optatives)

  1. (grammar) A mood of verbs found in some languages (e.g. Sanskrit, Old Prussian, Ancient Greek), used to express a wish. English has no inflexional optative mood, but it has modal verbs like "will", "might", and "may" that express possibility.
  2. (grammar) A verb or expression in the optative mood.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

French

Adjective

optative

  1. feminine singular of optatif

Latin

Adjective

optātīve

  1. vocative masculine singular of optātīvus
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