ablative
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Ablative
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English ablative, ablatife, ablatyf, ablatif, from Old French ablatif (“the ablative case”), from Latin ablātīvus (“expressing removal”),[1] from ablātus (“taken away”), from auferō (“I take away”). The engineering/nautical sense originates from ablate + -ive.
Pronunciation
Adjective
ablative (not comparable)
- (grammar) Applied to one of the cases of the noun in some languages, the fundamental meaning of the case being removal, separation, or taking away, and to a lesser degree, instrument, place, accordance, specifications, price, or measurement. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][2]
- (archaic) Pertaining to taking away or removing. [Attested from the mid 16th century until the early 18th century.][2]
- 1622, Joseph Hall, The Works of Joseph Hall: Sermons, page 123:
- Where the heart is forestalled with misopinion, ablative directions are found needful to unteach error, ere we can learn truth.
- (engineering, nautical, astronautics) Sacrificial, wearing away or being destroyed in order to protect the underlying material, as in ablative paints used for antifouling, or ablative heat shields used to protect spacecraft during reentry. [First attested in 1959.].[3]
- 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Weapons: Ablative Armor Codex entry:
- The inner layer of warship protection consists of ablative armor plate designed to "boil away" when heated. The vaporized armor material scatters a DEW beam, rendering it ineffectual.
- (medicine) Relating to the removal of a body part, tumor, or organ. [First attested in the mid 20th century.][2]
- (geology) Relating to the erosion of a land mass; relating to the melting or evaporation of a glacier. [First attested in the mid 20th century.][2]
Derived terms
Translations
archaic: taking away
applied to one of the cases of the noun in other language
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun
ablative (plural ablatives)
- (grammar) The ablative case. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
- An ablative material. [Mid 20th century.][2]
Derived terms
Translations
ablative case — see ablative case
References
- William Morris, editor (1969 (1971 printing)), “ablative”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, New York, N.Y.: American Heritage Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 3.
- Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “ablative”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 5.
French
Italian
Latin
Norwegian Bokmål
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