Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

comparative

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Remove ads

English

Etymology

From Middle English comparatif, from Middle French comparatif, from Latin comparātīvus, equivalent to comparātus, from comparāre (“to compare”) + -ive, from Latin -īvus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

comparative (comparative more comparative, superlative most comparative)

  1. Of or relating to comparison.
    He gave us a comparative example to illustrate how the human mind works.
    • 1773, James Burnett, Of the Origin and Progress of Language:
      that kind of animals that have the comparative faculty, by which they compare things together, deliberate and resolve.
  2. Using comparison as a method of study, or founded on something using it.
    A comparative study between Homo Sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis.
    comparative anatomy
    • 1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The riding of B.R. coaches”, in Trains Illustrated, pages 705–706:
      After all, it is undeniable that the B.R. standard coach scored highly in comparative trials with other European railway vehicles on the Continent a few years ago, so that B.R. civil engineers must share responsibility for any defects in its behaviour over here.
  3. Approximated by comparison; relative.
    • 2016 October 24, Owen Gibson, “Is the unthinkable happening – are people finally switching the football off?”, in The Guardian‎, London:
      The Olympics, the weather and a comparative lack of heavyweight clashes so far this season have been cited as reasons for the drop in viewers.
    • 1837, William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences:
      The recurrence of comparative warmth and cold.
    • 1692, Richard Bentley, A Confutation of Atheism:
      This bubble, […] by reason of its comparative levity to the fluid that encloses it, would necessarily ascend to the top.
  4. (obsolete) Comparable; bearing comparison.
    • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.137:
      And need he had of slumber yet, for none / Had suffered more—his hardships were comparative / To those related in my grand-dad's Narrative.

Derived terms

Multiword terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

comparative (plural comparatives)

  2. (grammar) The degree of comparison of an adjective or adverb used when comparing two entities in terms of a certain property or a certain way of doing something. In English, the comparative of superiority is formed by adding the suffix -er or the word more (e.g. bigger, more fully); the comparative of equality, by adding the word as (e.g. as big, as fully); the comparative of inferiority, by adding the word less (e.g. less big, less fully).
    Synonym: comparative degree
    Hypernym: degree of comparison
    Hyponyms: comparative of superiority, comparative of equality, comparative of inferiority
    Coordinate terms: positive, superlative
  3. (grammar) An adjective or adverb in the comparative degree.
  4. (chiefly in the plural) Data used to make a comparison.
    • 2010, Barry Smith, Introductory Financial Accounting and Reporting, page 171:
      Investment ratios are positive. Comparative or trend data are required to draw final conclusions. The absence of comparatives and trend data constrains the conclusions.
  5. (obsolete) An equal; a rival; a compeer.
  6. (obsolete) One who makes comparisons; one who affects wit.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

Anagrams

Remove ads

French

Pronunciation

Adjective

comparative

  1. feminine singular of comparatif

Italian

Adjective

comparative

  1. feminine plural of comparativo

Anagrams

Latin

Adjective

comparātīve

  1. vocative masculine singular of comparātīvus

References

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads
Remove ads