royal we

en-noun

royal we (plural royal we's or (rare) royal wes)

royal we's (plural)
royal wes (plural rare)

Queen Victoria is the monarch most commonly associated with the use of the royal we, as in "We are not amused."

The string of royal we’s in lines 19–27 conflates his personal responsibility with those of the civic institution and the city fathers, and the two analogies he appeals to along the way have self-exculpatory force.

1997, Harry Berger, Jr., “What Does the Duke Know and When Does He Know It? Carrying the Torch in Measure for Measure”, in Peter Erickson, editor, Making Trifles of Terrors: Redistributing Complicities in Shakespeare, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, page 347

I know there are certain conventions of style to be observed when one writes for a professional journal. I’s indicative of real people must be suppressed, even at the cost of substituting royal we’s.

1999, Peter Gould, “[Thinking about Teaching] What Is Worth Teaching in Geography?”, in Becoming a Geographer, Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, published 2000, page 238

It may not sound very revolutionary to the modern ear—with all those royal wes and the orotund periods of Ciceronian dimensions which, with their apparently endless sub-clauses building slowly to a climax as they do, would probably read and sound better in Latin.

2000, Edward Stourton, Absolute Truth: The Struggle for Meaning in Today’s Catholic Church, New York, N.Y.: TV Books, page 31

“So it wasn’t a royal we,” said Jane, turning around to face former Evanston police detective Bruce Oh and his wife, Claire. / Bruce Oh raised an eyebrow slightly, which for him was a thoroughly out-of-character display of expression. Jane did not know, however, whether he was surprised to see her or had no idea what she meant by the reference to the royal we. / “When we spoke on the phone,” said Jane,” you said when we return from California, but I didn’t know you were in California, so I thought you were just—”

2006, Sharon Fiffer, Hollywood Stuff, New York, N.Y.: Minotaur, St. Martin’s Press

“We want you to apply to Stanford, UCSF, University of Chicago, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Dana-Farber, Mass General, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, and the National Cancer Institute.” We is Herr Doktor Ultmann, a royal we. “You will get a letter of recommendation from us. Every time you see a place, you will rank every one of them until that point. Then you will call and tell us what your choice is.”

2011, Otis Webb Brawley with Paul Goldberg, How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, published 2012, page 145

The narrator remarks, “[W]e know that Nestor shouldn’t drink that drink (Alice! Dorothy!) but the anger blooming in his chest will cause him to see one of the men and think he is a good-looking man. (We hate to admit that the men are good-looking.) We know, even through their clothes, that they are slick as seals and hard” (174). The content of the two parentheticals signal that this is a royal we speaking; its royal we tone is a blend of a camp sensibility with a genuine pathos for poor Nestor. It is a mock royal we that goes over the top with its tone to make a serious point.

2016, Ralph E. Rodriguez, “I Digress: Reading Chicano Narrative and Manuel Muñoz’s “Monkey, Sí””, in William Orchard, Yolanda Padilla, editors, Bridges, Borders, and Breaks: History, Narrative, and Nation in Twenty-First-Century Chicana/o Literary Criticism, Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press

“If I had the energy, I’d object to your high-handed bossiness.” / “Mmm, I’ll give you a rain check, how’s that? Now, we need to get you out of these clothes.” / “I’ve got a headache, Chance. I think I can still manage to undress on my own.” / He grinned. “That was one of those royal we’s.[…]”

2018, Mindy Neff, The Doctor’s Instant Family

He let his hand drop and, without preamble, said, “I am old, cousin. I would see this war end before my reign does.” The royal we was gone again, but he amended the breach as he continued. “You are thinking that we do not look old, but you are palatine.[…]”

2020, Christopher Ruocchio, Demon in White (The Sun Eater; 3), New York, N.Y.: DAW Books, page 18

Regarding we, scholars have developed taxonomies clarifying potential referents: a common distinction is between inclusive we, referencing both speaker and hearer (we instead of you and I), exclusive we, referencing speaker and a group not including the hearer (we meaning we without you), and a royal we referencing only the speaker, as traditionally used by a sovereign (Fontaine 2006; Íñigo-Mora 2004).

2021, Eean Grimshaw, Menno H. Reijven, ““We Have a Big Crowd”: The Different Referents of the First-Person Plural in U.S. Presidential Candidates’ Talk on Entertainment-Political Interviews”, in Monika Kirner-Ludwig, editor, Fresh Perspectives on Major Issues in Pragmatics, New York, N.Y., Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge

For example, in lines 021–022, Mr. Bader says we in “excuse me skateboard people, we are recognizing the order of events.” It is not immediately clear whom we refers to in this case. There are at least four possibilities: an inclusive we, an exclusive we, a “royal we” and a “patronizing we.” We might refer inclusively to Mr. Bader and all of the students in the room. We might refer exclusively to Mr. Bader and only some of the students in the room (for example, perhaps not the “skateboard people”). In its “royal” form, we might refer to Mr. Bader alone, speaking about himself in the plural because of his social status.

2021, Stanton Wortham, Angela Reyes, “Central tools and techniques”, in Discourse Analysis Beyond the Speech Event, 2nd edition, Abingdon, Oxon, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, page 50

She’s still droning on about the conference using the royal we because she likes to pretend that her bosses care enough to involve her in their decisions. / ‘There’s a large new prospective client going. We need you to secure them.’

2021, Kate G. Smith, You’ve Got Mail, London: Orion Books

The first-person plural pronoun we as traditionally used by a sovereign in formal speech to refer to themselves in their role as the monarch.


augment

en-verb

augment (third-person singular simple present augments, present participle augmenting, simple past and past participle augmented)

augments (present singular third-person)
augmenting (participle present)
augmented (participle past)
augmented (past)

From Middle English augmenten, from Middle French augmenter, from Old French augmenter, from Late Latin augmentare (“to increase”), from Latin augmentum (“an increase, growth”), from augere (“to increase”).

(grammar, transitive) To add an augment to.


augment

The augment is found in Greek, Indo-Iranian, Armenian and Phrygian.

(Indo-European languages) In some languages, a prefix *é- (अ- (a-) in Sanskrit, ἐ- (e-) in Greek) indicating a past tense of a verb.

նախահավելված

grammar: prefix indicating past tense of verb

Fundamentally the augment characterizes a verbal action viewed from a non-contemporary standpoint, either the moment of speaking (or writing) or a further verbal action.

1987, Kim McCone, chapter IX, in The early Irish verb, 2nd edition, Maynooth: An Sagart, published 1997, section 3.1, page 93

(Celtic languages) Especially Old Irish, a preverb, usually ro-, used to give a verb a resultative or potential meaning.

(Bantu languages) In some languages, an additional vowel prepended to the noun prefix.


imp.

en-adj

imp. (comparative more imp., superlative most imp.)

more imp. (comparative)
most imp. (superlative)

notā, sg. imp. form of notō, “I mark”

(not comparable, grammar) Abbreviation of imperative.

sate, obs. imp. form of to sit

(not comparable, grammar) Abbreviation of imperfect.

rain: in imp. constr., “It’s raining.”

(not comparable, grammar) Abbreviation of impersonal.


feminine

feminine (comparative more feminine, superlative most feminine)

more feminine (comparative)
most feminine (superlative)

butch

having qualities stereotypical of the female gender

From Middle English feminine, femynyne, femynyn, from Old French feminin, feminine, from Latin fēminīnus, from fēmina (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-m̥h₁n-eh₂ (“(the one) nursing, breastfeeding”). Related to fetus, feminism, filial, fellatio.

femëror

of the feminine grammatical gender distinction

(grammar) Of, pertaining or belonging to the female grammatical gender, in languages that have gender distinctions.

(of a noun) Being of the feminine class or grammatical gender, and inflected in that manner.

(of another part of speech) Being inflected in agreement with a feminine noun.

Coordinate term: masculine

(grammar, Mongolic languages, of any word) Having the vowel harmony of a front vowel.


feminine

The different words belong to different systems, and are no more the masculines and feminines of one another

1860, Robert Gordon Latham, An Elementary English Grammar: For the Use of Schools

(grammar) A word of the feminine gender.


verbal noun

(grammar) A noun that is morphologically related to a verb and similar to it in meaning; in English, it contrasts with the gerund and the deverbal noun.

مَصْدَر

grammar: noun that is morphologically related to a verb and has similar meaning


flat

en-adj

flat (comparative flatter, superlative flattest)

flatter (comparative)
flattest (superlative)

bumpy

antonym(s) of “having no variations in altitude”

→ Portuguese: flat

From Middle English flat, a borrowing from Old Norse flatr (compare Norwegian and Swedish flat, Danish flad), from Proto-Germanic *flataz, from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”); akin to Saterland Frisian flot (“smooth”), German Flöz (“a geological layer”), Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús), Latvian plats, Sanskrit प्रथस् (prathas, “extension”). Doublet of plat and pleyt.
The noun is from Middle English flat (“level piece of ground, flat edge of a weapon”), from the adjective.
The algebraic sense was coined by Serre in a 1956 paper, originally as French plat.

inh

Many flat adverbs, as in 'run fast', 'buy cheap', etc. are from Old English.

(grammar) Not having an inflectional ending or sign, such as a noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb, without the addition of a formative suffix; or an infinitive without the sign "to".


impersonal

en-adj

impersonal (comparative more impersonal, superlative most impersonal)

more impersonal (comparative)
most impersonal (superlative)

Northern England English, Syllabic post-schwa consonants

From French impersonnel, from Latin impersōnālis, from im- (“not”) + persōnālis (“personal”), equivalent to im- + personal.

The verb “rain” is impersonal in sentences like “It’s raining.”

(grammar, of a verb or other word) Not having a subject, or having a third person pronoun without an antecedent.


impersonal

(grammar) An impersonal word or construct.


continuous

From Latin continuus, from contineō (“hold together”). Displaced native Old English singal.

continuous erythropoietin receptor activator

(grammar) Expressing an ongoing action or state.


subjective

subjective (comparative more subjective, superlative most subjective)

more subjective (comparative)
most subjective (superlative)

The general finite stem is the verbal stem which serves as the basis of inflection in the indicative present and past in the subjective conjugation and the objective conjugation with the singular and dual object.

2014, Irina Nikolaeva, A Grammar of Tundra Nenets, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter

(linguistics, grammar) Describing conjugation of a verb that indicates only the subject (agent), not indicating the object (patient) of the action. (In linguistic descriptions of Tundra Nenets, among others.)


simple past

(grammar) A tense used to describe something that happened in the past, formed by the inflection of a single word, without any auxiliary verb such as be or have.

passé simple

these terms have slightly different meanings in French, they are not synonyms


prefix

Borrowed from Middle French prefixer (verb) resp. Late Latin praefixum (noun), both from Latin praefixus, past participle of praefīgō (“I (fix, fasten, set up) in front”, “I fix on the (end, extremity)”) (from prae- (“before”) + fīgō (“I fix”, “I fasten”, “I affix”)), equivalent to pre- + -fix.

(grammar, linguistic morphology) A morpheme added to the beginning of a word to modify its meaning, for example as, pre- in prefix, con- in conjure, re- in reheat, etc.


governor

head

governor (plural governors, feminine governess)

Bahamian Creole: governor

Belizean Creole: govna

Gullah: gobna

Krio: governor

Pichinglis: gɔvna, gɔbna

Pijin: gavna

Tobagonian Creole English: governor

Tok Pisin: gavana

→ Hausa: gwamna

→ Irish: gobharnóir

→ Maori: kāwana

→ Samoan: kavana

→ Swahili: gavana

→ Malay: gabenor

/ˈɡʌvənə(ɹ)/

From Middle English governour, from Old French gouvreneur, from Latin gubernator, from Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman, pilot, guide”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer, to drive, to guide, to act as a pilot”), of disputed origin. By surface analysis, govern + -or. Doublet of gubernator. Doublet of cybernetics and Kubernetes.

viceroy

of large divisions of a kingdom or empire

(grammar) A constituent of a phrase that governs another.


nominatival

(grammar) Of or pertaining to the nominative case; nominative


objective

en-adj

objective (comparative more objective, superlative most objective)

more objective (comparative)
most objective (superlative)

Borrowed from French objectif, from Latin objectivus.

(grammar) Of, or relating to a noun or pronoun used as the object of a verb.

(linguistics, grammar) Of, or relating to verbal conjugation that indicates the object (patient) of an action. (In linguistic descriptions of Tundra Nenets, among others.)


objective

(grammar) a noun or pronoun in the objective case.


genitival

genitival (comparative more genitival, superlative most genitival)

more genitival (comparative)
most genitival (superlative)

genitival adverb

(grammar) Having genitive form; pertaining to, expressing, or derived from, the genitive case.


locative

a locative adjective

the locative case of a noun

(grammar) Indicating place, or the place where, or wherein.


locative

Brian: Ah. Ah, dative, sir! Ahh! No, not dative! Not the dative, sir! No! Ah! Oh, the… accusative! Accusative! Ah! Domum, sir! Ad domum! Ah! Oooh! Ah!
Centurion: Except that domus takes the…?
Brian: The locative, sir!
Centurion: Which is…?!


count

From Middle English counten, borrowed from Anglo-Norman conter, from Old French conter (“add up; tell a story”), from Latin computō (“I compute”). In this sense, displaced native Old English tellan, whence Modern English tell. Doublet of compute.

der

For example, the term abuse would require at least one definition for the uncount usage ‘invective, insulting language’, and another for the count usage ‘an item of invective, an insult’.

2014, James Lambert, “Diachronic stability in Indian English lexis”, in World Englishes, page 118


m

Abbreviations.
# (stenoscript) Abbreviation of am.
# (stenoscript) Abbreviation of him.
# (stenoscript) Abbreviation of my and mine.
# (stenoscript) Abbreviation of many.
# (stenoscript) the prefix mis-.
# (stenoscript) the prefix im-.

ng

and <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">mine</i>.


n

Alternative form: n.


n

Alternative form: n.

(grammar) Abbreviation of neuter (gender).


prepositional

From Latin praepositiō (“a setting before, a preposition”), a calque of Ancient Greek πρόθεσις (próthesis, “a setting before, preposition (grammar)”) + -al.


state

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tus
Latin statuslbor.
Old French estatbor.
Middle English stat
English state
From Middle English stat (as a noun); adopted c. 1200 from both Old French estat and Latin status (“manner of standing, attitude, position, carriage, manner, dress, apparel; and other senses”), from stare (“to stand”). Doublet of estate and status. The sense of "polity" develops in the 14th century. Compare French être, Greek στέω (stéo), Italian stare, Portuguese estar, Romanian sta, and Spanish estar.

der

something is rotten in the state of Denmark

there is something rotten in the state of Denmark

[…]distinctions among states of affairs are reflected to a striking degree in distinctions among Aktionsart types. That is, situations are expressed by state verbs or predicates, events by achievement verbs or predicates, and actions by activity verbs or predicates.

1997, Robert van Valin, Randy LaPolla, Syntax, page 92

The most basic Aktionsart distinction is between states and occurrences.

2010, Nick Riemer, Introducing Semantics, page 320

(grammar, semantics) The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that do not change over time.


instrumental

en-adj

instrumental (comparative more instrumental, superlative most instrumental)

more instrumental (comparative)
most instrumental (superlative)

From Middle English instrumental, instrumentale, from Medieval Latin īnstrūmentālis.

the instrumental case

(grammar) Applied to a case expressing means or agency, generally corresponding to the English use of prepositions such as by, with, through, or by means of with the objective case.


invariable

The French adjective marron ‘brown’ is invariable: it does not take the usual s in the plural.

(by extension, grammar, of a word, or a grammatical class) That cannot undergo inflection, conjugation or declension.


stop

From Middle English stoppen, stoppien, from Old English stoppian (“to stop, close”), from Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn, from Proto-Germanic *stuppōną (“to stop, close”), *stuppijaną (“to push, pierce, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp-, *(s)tewb- (“to push; stick”), from *(s)tew- (“to bump; impact; butt; push; beat; strike; hit”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian stopje (“to stop, block”), West Frisian stopje (“to stop”), Dutch stoppen (“to stop”), Low German stoppen (“to stop”), German stopfen (“to be filling, stuff”), German stoppen (“to stop”), Danish stoppe (“to stop”), Swedish stoppa (“to stop”), Icelandic stoppa (“to stop”), Middle High German stupfen, stüpfen (“to pierce”). More at stuff, stump.
Alternative etymology derives Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn from an assumed Vulgar Latin *stūpāre, *stuppāre (“to stop up with tow”), from stūpa, stīpa, stuppa (“tow, flax, oakum”), from Ancient Greek στύπη (stúpē), στύππη (stúppē, “tow, flax, oakum”). This derivation, however, is doubtful, as the earliest instances of the Germanic verb do not carry the meaning of "stuff, stop with tow". Rather, these senses developed later in response to influence from similar sounding words in Latin and Romance.

cog

(UK, grammar, informal) Short for full stop.


gender

en-noun

gender (countable and uncountable, plural genders)

→ Arabic: جِنْدَر (jindar)

→ Armenian: գենդեր (gender)

desc

→ Belarusian: ге́ндар (hjéndar), ге́ндэр (hjénder)

→ Bulgarian: дже́ндър (džéndǎr)

→ Czech: gender

→ Dutch: gender

→ Esperanto: genro (semantic loan)

→ French: genre (semantic loan)

→ Georgian: გენდერი (genderi)

→ German: Gender

→ Hungarian: gender

→ Indonesian: gèndêr

→ Japanese: ジェンダー (jendā)

→ Korean: 젠더 (jendeo)

→ Polish: gender

→ Russian: ге́ндер (génder)

→ Slovak: gender

→ Ukrainian: ге́ндер (hénder), ґе́ндер (génder)

→ Yiddish: דזשענדער (dzhender)

From Middle English gendre, borrowed from Old French gendre, borrowed from Latin genere (“type, kind”). Doublet of genre and genus. The verb developed after the noun.

The pronominal declension [of English], on which we will focus most of our attention, inflects pronouns for person, number, case, gender, animacy, and reflexivity.

1990, Edwin L. Battistella, Markedness: The Evaluative Superstructure of Language, page 73

In Algonquian languages, given the full morphology of a noun, one can predict whether it belongs to the animate or inanimate gender […]

1991, Greville G. Corbett, Gender, pages 22 and 65

Pronouns, for instance, are structures that organise information about continuous referents. This information is typically categorised in Romani according to Person, Number, Gender, Animacy, Case, and Discreteness.

2006, Viktor Elšik, Yaron Matras, Markedness and Language Change: The Romani Sample, page 29

The common gender might well reflect an IE animate gender.

2015, Anna Giacalone Ramat, Paolo Ramat, The Indo-European Languages, page 191

(grammar) A division of nouns and pronouns (and sometimes of other parts of speech) into masculine or feminine, and sometimes other categories like neuter or common, and animate or inanimate.

143. […] We have now to speak of the following eight particulars relating to verbs: Gender or Sort, Person, Number, Time, Mode, Participle, Gerund, and Supine. [...]
1st.--Of the Gender.
144. Gender means the same as sort or kind. There are four principal Sorts of Verbs; namely, Active verbs, Passive verbs, Neuter verbs, and Impersonal verbs.

1835, James Paul Cobbett, A Latin Grammar for the Use of English Boys: Being an Explanation of the Rudiments of the Latin Language, London, page 111

Many of the words quoted are purely reflexive, others passive or deponent. Such words as óttask, œðrask, dásk, iðrask, reiðask are deponent, though they originally may have been reflexive, but the active gender is here quite obsolete.

1866, Guðbrandr Vigfusson, “Some remarks upon the Use of the Reflexive Pronoun in Icelandic”, in Transactions of the Philological Society, page 87

The general distinction is between three 'genders' out of the five genders of the Latin tradition: active gender, passive gender, neuter gender.

2007, Bernard Colombat, “Some Problems in Transferring the Latin Model to the First French Grammars: Verbal voice, impersonal verbs and the -rais form”, in Eduardo Guimarães, Diana Luz Pessoa de Barros, editors, Studies in the History of the Language Sciences 110: History of Linguistics 2002, John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 6

(grammar) Synonym of voice (“particular way of inflecting or conjugating verbs”)


cardinal

en-noun

cardinal (countable and uncountable, plural cardinals)

From Middle French cardinal, from Latin cardinālis (“pertaining to a hinge, hence applied to that on which something turns or depends, important, principal, chief”), from cardō (“hinge”) + -ālis, adjectival suffix.

der

The commonest numerals in Latin, as in English, are the "cardinals" […] and the "ordinals" […].

2005, Frederic M. Wheelock, Wheelock's Latin, 6th ed. revised, p.97

cardinal numeral
cardinal numeral#English

(grammar) Short for cardinal numeral, a word used to represent a cardinal number.


additive

From Late Latin additivus, from the participial stem of Latin addere (“to add”).

(grammar) A word or phrase that adds something, such as also, even, or nor.


arity

en-noun

arity (countable and uncountable, plural arities)

From -ary (taken from unary/binary/ternary [function/operator]) + -ity. Compare adicity and adinity.

(Lojban grammar) the number of arguments (in Lojban grammar called sumti) specified in the definition of a selbri. (the selbri combined with the sumti make up a bridi).


generic

en-adj

generic (comparative more generic, superlative most generic)

more generic (comparative)
most generic (superlative)

gendered

antonym(s) of “neither masculine nor feminine”

From Middle French générique, from Latin genus (“genus, kind”) + -ic; thus morphologically parallel with, and a doublet of, general.

Words like salesperson and firefighter are generic.

(grammar) specifying neither masculine nor feminine; epicene; unisex.

ზოგადი

specifying neither masculine nor feminine e.g. salesperson


generic

[…]a male-centered perspective[…]has resulted in false generics in everyday life[…]

1998, Jacqueline A. Dienemann, Nursing administration: managing patient care

(grammar) A term that specifies neither male nor female.


degree

From Middle English degre, borrowed from Old French degré (French: degré), itself from Latin gradus, with the prefix de-.

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 26. Degree

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 31. Greatness

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class I § 32. Smallness

(grammar) Any of the stages (like positive, comparative, superlative, elative) in the comparison of an adjective or an adverb.


attribute

From Latin attributus past participle of attribuere.


nexus

en-noun

nexus (countable and uncountable, plural nexuses or nexusses or (rare) nexus)

nexuses (plural)
nexusses (plural)
nexus (plural rare)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-nexus.wav

From Latin nexus (“connection, nexus; act of binding, tying or fastening together; something which binds, binding, bond, fastening, joint; legal obligation”), from nectō (“to attach, bind, connect, fasten, tie; to interweave; to relate; to unite; to bind by obligation, make liable, oblige; to compose, contrive, devise, produce”) + -tus (suffix forming verbal nouns).

der

(grammar) In the work of the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen (1860–1943): a group of words expressing two concepts in one unit (such as a clause or sentence).


future tense

(grammar) The tense or time form of a verb used to refer to an event or occurrence that has not yet happened or is expected to happen in the future.

futuro semplice

referring to an action, a state, ... which is expected will be in progress or not yet started at the future time of reference

futuro anteriore

a state, ... which is expected that will be finished/ended/completed at the future time of reference


past tense

This is a report on a study of the use of the past tense forms in the 53 Japanese samples compiled for the Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage (LINDSEI) project.

2004, Tomoko Koneko, “The Use of Past Tense Forms by Japanese Learners of English”, in Junsaku Nakamura, Nagayuki Inoue, Tomoji Tabata, editors, English Corpora under Japanese Eyes, Rodopi, page 215

As you have studied Spanish, you have probably had the feeling that there are just too many past tenses.

2009, Eric W. Vogt, Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Past-Tense Verbs Up Close, McGraw Hill, page v

Some members of the [Mongolic language] family have three or more different affixes which seem to be markers of the past tense, so that in Khalkha, for example, irev, irjee, irlee, and irsen all can translate, and be translated by, the English past tense verb came.

2012, Robert I. Binnick, The Past Tenses of the Mongolian Verb, BRILL, page 1

(grammar) A grammatical form (often a verb form) that refers to an event, transaction, occurrence, or object that happened (or had happened), or existed, at some time before now (the applicable reference time).


present tense

Animals—lions and zebras and beautiful snakes—live vividly in the present tense, in a bright unconsciousness of time. That is their innocence and their limitation. Humans carry with them their experiences, their pasts; men and women work with a knowledge of consequences and, doing so, impose order on the chaotic present and project consequences into the future.

1998 March 30, Lance Morrow, “The Trouble With The Present Tense”, in Time

(grammar) A grammatical tense whose principal function is to locate a situation or event in the present time.


analogy

en-noun

analogy (countable and uncountable, plural analogies)

/əˈnæləd͡ʒi/

From Latin analogia, from Ancient Greek ἀναλογίᾱ (analogíā), from ἀνα- (ana-) + λόγος (lógos, “speech, reckoning”).

(grammar) The correspondence of a word or phrase with the genius of a language, as learned from the manner in which its words and phrases are ordinarily formed; similarity of derivative or inflectional processes.

قِيَاس

grammar: similarity of derivative or inflectional processes


agglutinative

en-adj

agglutinative (comparative more agglutinative, superlative most agglutinative)

more agglutinative (comparative)
most agglutinative (superlative)

(grammar) Having words derived by combining parts, each with a separate meaning.


agglutinative

(grammar) A word formed from the combination of parts, each with a separate meaning.


trial

From Latin tri- (stem of trēs (“three”)) + -al, on the pattern of dual.

No language has a trial number unless it has a dual.

(grammar) Pertaining to a language form referring to three of something, like people. (See Ambai language for an example.)

trialis

pertaining to a language form referring to three of something


dynamic

dynamic (comparative more dynamic, superlative most dynamic)

more dynamic (comparative)
most dynamic (superlative)

static

antonym(s) of “Changing, active, in motion”

From French dynamique, from Ancient Greek δυναμικός (dunamikós, “powerful”), from δύναμις (dúnamis, “power”), from δύναμαι (dúnamai, “I am able”).

der

(grammar) Of a verb: not stative, but fientive; indicating continued or progressive action on the part of the subject.


dynamic

(grammar) A verb that indicates continued or progressive action on the part of the subject.


strong

en-adj

strong (comparative stronger, superlative strongest)

stronger (comparative)
strongest (superlative)

forceless

antonym(s) of “capable of producing great physical force”

fragile

antonym(s) of “capable of withstanding great physical force”

diluted

antonym(s) of “having a high concentration of an essential or active ingredient”

Sranan Tongo: tranga

Aukan: taanga

Saramaccan: taánga

From Middle English strong, strang, from Old English strang, from Proto-West Germanic *strang, from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (“tight, strict, straight, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“taut, stiff, tight”). Cognate with Scots strang (“strong”), Saterland Frisian strang, West Frisian string (“austere, strict, harsh, severe, stern, stark, tough”), Dutch streng (“strict, severe, tight”), German streng (“strict, severe, austere”), Swedish sträng, strang (“severe, strict, harsh”), Norwegian strang (“strong, harsh, bitter”), Norwegian streng (“strong, hard”), Icelandic strangur (“strict”), Latin stringō (“tighten”).

cog

a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must

a strong verb

(grammar) Inflecting in a different manner than the one called weak, such as Germanic verbs which change vowels.


real

UK

US

From Middle English real, from Old French reel, from Late Latin reālis (“actual”), from Latin rēs (“matter, thing”), from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís (“wealth, goods”). Doublet of realis.

der

(grammar) One of the three genders that the common gender can be separated into in the Scandinavian languages.


goal

→ Armenian: գոլ (gol)

→ Azerbaijani: qol

→ Basque: gol

→ Belarusian: гол (hol)

→ Bulgarian: гол (gol)

→ Catalan: gol

→ Central Kurdish: گۆڵ (goll)

→ Czech: gól

→ Dutch: goal

→ Esperanto: golo

→ French: goal

→ Galician: gol

→ Georgian: გოლი (goli)

→ Greek: γκολ (gkol)

→ Hungarian: gól

→ Ido: golo

→ Indonesian: gol

→ Italian: gol, goal

→ Japanese: ゴール (gōru)

→ Korean: 골 (gol)

→ Luxembourgish: Gol

→ Maori: kōrā

→ Persian: گل (gol)

→ Polish: gol

→ Portuguese: golo, gol (Brazil)

→ Romanian: gol

→ Russian: гол (gol)

→ Serbo-Croatian: го̑л (gȏl)

→ Slovak: gól

→ Slovene: gól

→ Spanish: gol

→ Swahili: goli

→ Telugu: గోలు (gōlu)

→ Turkish: gol

→ Ukrainian: гол (hol)

→ Zazaki: gol

From Middle English gol (“boundary, limit”), from Old English *gāl (“obstacle, barrier, marker”), suggested by its derivatives Old English gǣlan (“to hinder, delay, impede, keep in suspense, linger, hesitate, dupe”), and hyġegǣls (“hesitating, slow, sluggish”), hyġegǣlsa (“slow one, sluggish one”). Possibly cognate with Lithuanian gãlas (“end”), Latvian gals (“end”), Old Prussian gallan (“death”), Albanian ngalem (“to be limping, lame, paralyzed”), ngel (“to remain, linger, hesitate, get stuck”).

cog

(linguistics, grammar) A noun or noun phrase that receives the action of a verb. The subject of a passive verb or the direct object of an active verb. Also called a patient, target, or undergoer.


historic

en-adj

historic (comparative more historic, superlative most historic)

more historic (comparative)
most historic (superlative)

From Latin historicus (“historical”), from Ancient Greek ἱστορικός (historikós, “exact; historical”). Cognate with French historique.

der

The historic tenses include the imperfect, the pluperfect, and the future perfect.

(grammar) Various grammatical tenses and moods specially used in retelling past events.


weak

en-adj

weak (comparative weaker, superlative weakest)

weaker (comparative)
weakest (superlative)

healthy

antonym(s) of “lacking in force or ability”

potent

antonym(s) of “lacking in taste or potency”

From Middle English weyk, wayk, weik, waik, from Old Norse veikr (“weak”), from Proto-Germanic *waikwaz (“weak, yielded, pliant, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to bend, wind”).
Cognate with Old English wāc (“weak, bendsome”), Saterland Frisian wook (“soft, gentle, tender”), West Frisian weak (“soft”), Dutch week (“soft, weak”), German weich (“weak, soft”), Norwegian veik (“weak”), Swedish vek (“weak, pliant”), Icelandic veikur (“bendsome, weak”). Related to Old English wīcan (“to yield”). Doublet of week and wick.

cog

the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak

(grammar) Displaying a particular kind of inflection, including:

(Germanic languages, of verbs) Regular in inflection, lacking vowel changes and having a past tense with -d- or -t-.

(Germanic languages, of nouns) Showing less distinct grammatical endings.

(Germanic languages, of adjectives) Definite in meaning, often used with a definite article or similar word.


historical

en-adj

historical (comparative more historical, superlative most historical)

more historical (comparative)
most historical (superlative)

From Latin historicus (“historical”) + -al (forming adjectives denoting of or relating to).

suf

The historical present is often treated as a principal tense, but there are exceptions and sometimes both constructions appear in the same passage.

2010, Gerd Haverling, “Actionality, tense, and viewpoint”, in New Perspectives on Historical Latin Syntax, page 363

Of, concerning, or in accordance with the past generally.

(grammar) One of various tenses or moods used to tell about past events, historic (tense).


proper

en-adj

proper (comparative more proper, superlative most proper)

more proper (comparative)
most proper (superlative)

From Middle English propre, from Anglo-Norman proper, propre, Old French propre (French: propre), from Latin proprius.

(grammar) Used to designate a particular person, place, or thing. Proper nouns are usually written with an initial capital letter.

собствен

grammar: designating a particular person, place or thing


synthesis

en-noun

synthesis (countable and uncountable, plural syntheses)

From Latin synthesis, from Ancient Greek σύνθεσις (súnthesis, “a putting together; composition”), from συντίθημι (suntíthēmi, “put together, combine”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “set, place”). Doublet of sandhi.

der

(grammar) The uniting of ideas into a sentence.


ellipsis

en-noun

ellipsis (countable and uncountable, plural ellipses)

Unadapted borrowing from Latin ellipsis, from Ancient Greek ἔλλειψις (élleipsis, “omission”). Doublet of ellipse.

der

(grammar, rhetoric) The omission of a word or phrase that can be inferred from the context.


hypothesis

/hɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/

/həˈpɒθɪsɪs/

Recorded since 1596, from Middle French hypothese, from Late Latin hypothesis, from Ancient Greek ὑπόθεσις (hupóthesis, “base, basis of an argument, supposition”, literally “a placing under”), itself from ὑποτίθημι (hupotíthēmi, “I set before, suggest”), from ὑπό (hupó, “below”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “I put, place”).

(grammar) The antecedent of a conditional statement.


form

en-noun

form (countable and uncountable, plural forms)

→ Korean: 폼 (pom)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: form

From Middle English forme (“shape, figure, manner, bench, frame, seat, condition, agreement, etc.”), borrowed from Old French forme, from Latin fōrma (“shape, figure, image, outline, plan, mold, frame, case, etc., manner, sort, kind, etc.”).

der

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

participial forms;  verb forms

(grammar) A grouping of words which maintain grammatical context in different usages; the particular shape or structure of a word or part of speech.


distinctive

en-adj

distinctive (comparative more distinctive, superlative most distinctive)

more distinctive (comparative)
most distinctive (superlative)

From Latin distinctus, perfect passive participle of distinguere (“to push apart, to divide”), + -ive (forming adjectives signifying relation or tendency to). Cognate with French distinctif and Medieval Latin distinctivus.

These are the main distinctive accents, and by stopping at them... the reader will do justice to the sense.

1874, Andrew Bruce Davidson, Introductory Hebrew Grammar, page 27

(Hebrew grammar, of accents) Used to separate clauses in place of stops.


distinctive

A distinctive of less power than Zakeph is Ṭiphḥâ.


IP

en-noun

IP (countable and uncountable, plural IPs)

inflectional phrase
inflectional phrase#English

(grammar, X-bar theory) Initialism of inflectional phrase.


abstract noun

(grammar) A noun that denotes an idea, emotion, feeling, quality, generalization, representation or other abstract or intangible concept, as opposed to a concrete item, or a physical object.


mood

The mood most frequently encountered in English is the indicative, of which the mood in this sentence is an example.

(grammar) A verb form that depends on how its containing clause relates to the speaker’s or writer’s wish, intent, or assertion about reality.


countable

[ˈkʰãʊ̯̃n(ɾ)əbɫ̩]

From Middle English countable, equivalent to count (“to enumerate”) + -able.

可數

math: having a bijection with a subset of the natural numbers

finite

In these extracts the word abuse is used in the sense of ‘an individual piece of invective’ or ‘an abusive comment’ and is clearly a countable noun.

2014, James Lambert, “Diachronic stability in Indian English lexis”, in World Englishes, page 112

(grammar, of a noun) Freely usable with the indefinite article and with numbers, and therefore having a plural form.

مَعْدُود

grammar: freely used with numbers and the definite article


countable

[ˈkʰãʊ̯̃n(ɾ)əbɫ̩]


dependent

From Middle English dependaunt, dependent, from Middle French dependant (present participle of dependre (“to depend”)) and Latin dēpendēns (present participle of dēpendeō (“to depend”)). By surface analysis, depend + -ent.

(grammar) An element in phrase or clause structure that is not the head. Includes complements, modifiers and determiners.

(grammar) The aorist subjunctive or subjunctive perfective: a form of a verb not used independently but preceded by a particle to form the negative or a tense form. Found in Greek and in the Gaelic languages.


mode

From Old French mode (masculine), from Latin modus (“measure, due measure, rhythm, melody”). Doublet of modus.


actively

en-adv

actively (comparative more actively, superlative most actively)

more actively (comparative)
most actively (superlative)

From late Middle English actyvely; equivalent to active + -ly.

a word used actively

(grammar) In the active form; not passive.


token

From Middle English token, taken, from Old English tācn (“sign”), from Proto-West Germanic *taikn, from Proto-Germanic *taikną, from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show, instruct, teach”) with Germanic *k rather than *h by Kluge's law.
The verb is from Middle English toknen, from Old English tācnian. Cognate with German Zeichen, Dutch teken and Danish tegn.

der

that and a token will get you on the subway

(grammar) A lexeme; a basic, grammatically indivisible unit of a language such as a keyword, operator or identifier.


speech

en-noun

speech (countable and uncountable, plural speeches)

From Middle English speche, from Old English spǣċ, sprǣċ (“speech, discourse, language”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku (“speech, language”), from Proto-Indo-European *spereg-, *spreg- (“to make a sound”). Cognate with Dutch spraak (“speech”), German Sprache (“language, speech”). More at speak.

inh

(grammar) An utterance that is quoted; see direct speech, reported speech


final

en-adj

final (comparative more final, superlative most final)

more final (comparative)
most final (superlative)

From Middle English final, fynal, fynall, from Old French final, from Latin fīnālis (“of or relating to the end or to boundaries”), from fīnis (“end”); see fine. Replaced native English endly (“final”).

der

(grammar) Expressing purpose; as in the term final clause.


indefinite

From Late Latin indēfīnītus.
Morphologically in- + definite.

(grammar) A word or phrase that designates an unspecified or unidentified person or thing or group of persons or things.


definite

From Latin dēfīnītus, past participle of dēfīniō, whence also English define.

(grammar) A word or phrase that designates a specified or identified person or entity.


comparable

en-adj

comparable (comparative more comparable, superlative most comparable)

more comparable (comparative)
most comparable (superlative)

From Middle English comparable, from Middle French comparable, from Latin comparābilis. By surface analysis, compare + -able.

"Big" is a comparable adjective, since it can take the forms "bigger" and "biggest"; but "unique" is not comparable, except in disputed, but common, usage.

(grammar) Said of an adjective that has comparative and superlative forms.


active

active (comparative more active, superlative most active)

more active (comparative)
most active (superlative)

Albanian: aktiv

From Middle English actyf, from Old French actif, from Latin activus, from agere (“to do, to act”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti.
Morphologically act + -ive.

Applied to a form of the verb; — opposed to passive. See active voice.

Applied to verbs which assert that the subject acts upon or affects something else; transitive.

Applied to all verbs that express action as distinct from mere existence or state.


compare

en-verb

compare (third-person singular simple present compares, present participle comparing, simple past and past participle compared)

compares (present singular third-person)
comparing (participle present)
compared (participle past)
compared (past)
compare (infinitive)

From Middle English comparen, from Old French comparer, from Latin comparare (“to prepare, procure”), from compar (“like or equal to another”), from com- + par (“equal”). Displaced native Old English metan (“to compare,” also “to measure”).

We compare "good" as "good", "better", "best".

degrees of comparison
degrees of comparison

(transitive, grammar) To form the three degrees of comparison of (an adjective).

спрягам

to form the three degrees of comparison of


agree

agree (third-person singular simple present agrees, present participle agreeing, simple past and past participle agreed)

agrees (present singular third-person)
agreeing (participle present)
agreed (participle past)
agreed (past)

From Middle English agreen, from Old French agreer (“to accept or receive kindly”), from a gré (“favorably”), from Latin ad (“to”) + gratum (“pleasing”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“to welcome, greet, praise”).

der

Coordinate term: govern

In Romanian, all articles, adjectives, and pronouns agree in gender, number and case with the noun they refer to.

(intransitive, grammar) To correspond to (another word) in a grammatical category, such as gender, number, case, or person.

komunztatu

grammar: to correspond in gender, number, case, person, etc.


agent

From Latin agēns, present active participle of agere (“to drive, lead, conduct, manage, perform, do”).

A verb is typically described as active when its subject is the agent or actor. By contrast, a verb is said to be passive when the subject does not perform the action, but is the patient, target, or undergoer of the action.

2009, Tarsee Li, The Verbal System of the Aramaic of Daniel: An Explanation in the Context of Grammaticalization, page 58

(grammar) The participant of a situation that carries out the action in this situation, e.g. "the boy" in the sentences "The boy kicked the ball" and "The ball was kicked by the boy".

agent

grammar: performer of the action in a sentence


agent noun

The agent noun "cutter" means a person who cuts, or a thing that is made to or is able to cut something.

(grammar) A noun that denotes an agent (human or nonhuman) that performs the action denoted by the verb from which the noun is derived, such as "rider" derived from "to ride", or "cutter" derived from "to cut".


IO

en-noun

IO (countable and uncountable, plural IOs)

(grammar) Initialism of indirect object.


trace

From Middle English trace, traas, from Old French trace (“an outline, track, trace”), from the verb (see below).

der

[S]upposing the NP has raised in (18), the potential bindees are the clitic and the trace of the focalized NP, neither of which qualifies as a syntactic variable.

1999, Georges Rebuschi, Laurice Tuller, The Grammar of Focus, page 290

(grammar) An empty category occupying a position in the syntactic structure from which something has been moved, used to explain constructions such as wh-movement and the passive.


syncopated

en-adj

syncopated (comparative more syncopated, superlative most syncopated)

more syncopated (comparative)
most syncopated (superlative)

(grammar) of a word, shortened by syncope


p.pr.

present participle
present participle#English

(grammar) Abbreviation of present participle.


p.p.

Alternative forms: p. p., pp.

(grammar) Initialism of past participle.


descriptive

descriptive (comparative more descriptive, superlative most descriptive)

more descriptive (comparative)
most descriptive (superlative)

From Latin dēscriptīvus (“containing a full description”).

der

(grammar) Of an adjective, stating an attribute of the associated noun (as heavy in the heavy dictionary).


descriptive

(grammar) An adjective (or other descriptive word)


declination

en-noun

declination (countable and uncountable, plural declinations)

From Middle English declinacioun, borrowed from Middle French declination, from Latin declinatio. Doublet of declension.


inversion

inversion (countable and uncountable, plural inversions)

/ɪnˈvɜː.ʃən/

Inversion takes place in the sentence 'Is she here?' — 'is', the predicate, is before 'she', the subject. (with an auxiliary verb)

Inversion takes place in the sentence 'Never have I done that.' — 'have', the predicate, is before 'I', the subject, due to 'never' being the first word of the sentence. (for the purpose of emphasis)

Question formation involves the phenomenon commonly known as subject-auxiliary inversion, a change in word order in which the auxiliary moves in front of the subject.
(a) Here we shall describe this phenomenon in terms of movement of the element under INFL into COMP position.
(b) According to this analysis, what looks like an exchanging of positions between the subject and auxiliary (or INFL element, in GB terms) is actually the movement of the INFL element past the subject position into COMP.
(c) INFL-to-COMP movement seems to be triggered by the presence of the [+WH] feature in COMP.

2007/08, abergs, “INFL-to-COMP movement”, in English Language and Linguistics Online, retrieved 2014-05-22

(grammar) Deviation from standard word order by putting the predicate before the subject. It takes place in questions with auxiliary verbs and in normal, affirmative clauses beginning with a negative particle, for the purpose of emphasis.

շրջադասություն

deviation from standard word order by putting the predicate before the subject, in questions with auxiliary verbs and for the purpose of emphasis


first-person plural

first-person plural (plural first-person plurals)

"Are" is the first-person plural of the verb "to be".

(grammar) The plural of the first-person form of a verb or pronoun, which in some languages can either be inclusive ("you and I") or exclusive ("them and I"). In other languages, there is no distinction.


first-person singular

first-person singular (plural first-person singulars)

"Am" is the first-person singular of the verb "to be".

(grammar) The form of a verb used with the pronoun I (or its equivalent in other languages).

(grammar) The pronoun I (or its equivalent in other languages).


second-person singular

second-person singular (plural second-person singulars)

The second-person singular of "to be" is "art" or "are".

(grammar) The form of a verb used with the pronouns thou and you (singular), or their equivalents in other languages.

(grammar) The pronouns thou and you (singular), or their equivalents in other languages.

possessive adjective
possessive adjective

(grammar) The possessive adjectives thy and your (singular), or their equivalents in other languages.


third-person plural

third-person plural (plural third-person plurals)

"Are" is the third-person plural of the verb "to be".

(grammar) The form of a verb used (in English and other languages) with plural nouns and with the pronoun they (or its equivalents in other languages).

(grammar) The pronoun they (or its equivalents in other languages).


second-person plural

second-person plural (plural second-person plurals)

第二人稱複數

the linguistic category referring to multiple people being addressed by the speaker of an utterance

"Are" is the second-person plural of the verb "to be".

(grammar) The form of a verb used with the pronouns you (plural), y'all, you guys, etc., or their equivalents in other languages.

(grammar) The pronouns you (plural), y'all, you guys, youse, yinz, etc., or their equivalents in other languages.

(grammar) The possessive adjectives your (addressing a plural audience), y'all's, you guys', etc., or their equivalents in other languages.


third-person singular

third-person singular (plural third-person singulars)

"Is" is the third-person singular of "to be".

(grammar) The form of a verb used (in English and other languages) with singular nouns and with the pronouns he, she, it and one (or their equivalents in other languages).


second person

second person (countable and uncountable, plural second persons)

“Are” is the second person of “to be”.

“Hast” is the second person singular of the German verb “haben”.

“Habt” is the second person plural of the German verb “haben”.

(grammar) The form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience. In English, the second person is used with the pronouns thou and you. In many languages the singular, applying to one person, and plural, applying to several people, are distinct.

veta e dytë

the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience


first person

first person (countable and uncountable, plural first persons)

Calque of Latin prīma persōna, itself a calque of Ancient Greek πρῶτον πρόσωπον (prôton prósōpon).

der

πρῶτον πρόσωπον

"Am" is the first person singular of "to be".

All hanar have two names. The Face Name is known to the world; the Soul Name is kept for use among close friends and relations. Hanar never refer to themselves in the first person in conversation with someone they know on a Face Name basis. To do so is considered egotistical, so instead they refer to themselves as "this one", or the impersonal "it".

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Hanar Codex entry

(grammar) Forms of pronouns or verbs used for the speaker or writer of the sentence in which they occur.

veta e parë

the form of a pronoun verb used when the subject of a sentence is making the statement

ឧត្តមបុរិសៈ

ʼŏttâmôbŏrĭsaʼ


third person

en-noun

third person (countable and uncountable, plural third persons)

“Is” is the third-person singular of “to be”.

(grammar) the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is not the audience or the one making the statement. In English, pronouns used with the third person include he, she, it, one, they, and who.


conjugate

en-verb

conjugate (third-person singular simple present conjugates, present participle conjugating, simple past and past participle conjugated)

conjugates (present singular third-person)
conjugating (participle present)
conjugated (participle past)
conjugated (past)

/ˈkɔn.d͡ʒə.ɡæɪt/

From the participle stem of Latin coniugō (“to yoke together”), from con- (“with”) + iugō (“to join”).

In English, the verb 'to be' is conjugated as follows: 'I am', 'you are', 'he/she/it is', 'we are', 'you are', 'they are'.

(grammar, transitive) To inflect (a verb) for each person, in order, for one or more tenses; to list or recite its principal parts.


conjugate

/ˈkɔn.d͡ʒə.ɡæɪt/

17th c, John Bramhall,
We have learned in logic, that conjugates are sometimes in name only, and not in deed.

(grammar) A word agreeing in derivation with another word, and therefore generally resembling it in meaning.


conjugate

/ˈkɔn.d͡ʒə.ɡæɪt/

(grammar) Agreeing in derivation and radical signification; said of words.


passive

en-adj

passive (comparative more passive, superlative most passive)

more passive (comparative)
most passive (superlative)

From Middle English passyf, passyve, from Middle French, French passif, from Latin passivus (“serving to express the suffering of an action; in late Latin literally capable of suffering or feeling”), from passus, past participle of pati (“to suffer”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”); compare patient.


passive

(grammar) A form of a verb that is in the passive voice.


conjugation

en-noun

conjugation (countable and uncountable, plural conjugations)

/ˌkɒnd͡ʒəˈɡeɪʃən/

/ˌkɑnd͡ʒəˈɡeɪʃən/

Borrowed from Latin coniugātiō (“combining, connecting; conjugation”), from coniugō (“join, unite together”). Equivalent to conjugate + -ion.

bor

In ſo moche that if any verbe be of the thyꝛde coniugation / I ſet out all his rotes and tenſes[…]

1530 July 18, Iohan Palſgrave, “The Introduction”, in Leſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe […], London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, page 32; reprinted as Lesclarcissement de la langue françoyse, Genève: Slatkine Reprints, 1972

(grammar) In some languages, one of several classifications of verbs according to what inflections they take.

تَصْرِيف

in some languages, one of several classifications of verbs

(grammar) The act or process of conjugating a verb.

Meronym: principal parts

(grammar) The product of that act: the conjugated forms of a verb, collected into a list or recitation.


serial

/ˈsɪə.ɹɪ.əl/

Formed as series + -al, on model of Latin seriālis, from seriēs + -ālis. Cognate to Italian seriale. First use appears c. 1823. See cite below.

serial time-encoded amplified microscopy

(grammar) Of or relating to a grammatical aspect relating to an action that is habitual and ongoing.


defective

en-adj

defective (comparative more defective, superlative most defective)

more defective (comparative)
most defective (superlative)

From Middle English defectif, defective, from Old French defectif, from Late Latin dēfectīvus.

(grammar, of a lexeme, especially a verb) Lacking some forms; e.g., having only one tense or being usable only in the third person.


theme

-iːmi (for the sense dealing with the Byzantine empire only)

From Middle English teme, from Old French teme, tesme (French thème), from Latin thema, from Ancient Greek θέμα (théma), from τίθημι (títhēmi, “I put, place”), reduplicative from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, do”) (whence also English do). Doublet of thema.


transformational rule

en-noun

transformational rule (plural transformational rules)

(grammar) A rule that takes an input and changes it in some restricted way to result in a surface structure.


finite

en-adj

finite (comparative more finite, superlative most finite)

more finite (comparative)
most finite (superlative)

The adjective is derived from Middle English fynyte, finit, from Latin fīnītus, perfect passive participle of fīniō (“I finish; I terminate”), from fīnis (“boundary”). The word displaced Old English ġeendodlīċ.
The noun is derived from the adjective.

The "goes" in "he goes" is a finite form of a verb, the third-person singular.

(grammar, as opposed to infinite or nonfinite) Limited by (i.e. inflected for) person or number.


determiner

Definite articles and indefinite articles are types of determiners.

(grammar) A member of a class of words functioning in a noun phrase to identify or distinguish a referent without describing or modifying it.

(grammar) A dependent function in a noun phrase that marks it as definite or indefinite. This function is usually filled by words in the determinative class but may be filled by other elements such as a genitive pronoun.

predeterminer

word class): article (a/an, the), demonstrative determiner (this, that, these, those), possessive determiner, cardinal number (three, 50), quantifier (most, any, much, each


infinite

infinite (comparative more infinite, superlative most infinite)

more infinite (comparative)
most infinite (superlative)

From Middle English infinite, from Old French infinit and Latin infīnītus, from in- (“not”) + fīnis (“end”) + the perfect passive participle ending -itus. Doublet of infinito. Displaced native Old English unġeendodlīċ.

(grammar) Not limited by person or number.

неопределен

grammar: not limited by person or number


plurale tantum

From Latin plūrāle tantum (“plural as such; plural only”), from plūrāle + tantum.

bor

(grammar) A noun (either in certain of its senses or in all its senses) that does not generally have a singular form.

mravlobit ricxvši mdgomi arsebiti saxelebi

მრავლობით რიცხვში მდგომი არსებითი სახელები


complement

en-noun

complement (countable and uncountable, plural complements)

From Middle English complement, from Latin complementum (“that which fills up or completes”), from compleō (“I fill up, I complete”) (English complete). Doublet of compliment.

der

Why has our grammar broken down at this point? It is not difficult to see why. For, we have failed to make any provision for the fact that only some Verbs in English (i.e. Verbs like those italicized in (5) (a), traditionally called Transitive Verbs) subcategorize ( = ‘takeʼ) an immediately following NP Complement, whereas others (such as those italicised in (5) (b), traditionally referred to as Intransitive Verbs) do not.

1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 7, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 340

(grammar, linguistics) A word or group of words that completes a grammatical construction in the predicate and that describes or is identified with the subject or object.

عُمْدَة

word or group of words completing the predicate, identified with the subject or object

predikatiivi

completing the predicate but not being the object

grammatically required argument, actant) kötelező bővítmény


augmentative

From Middle English augmentatif, from Middle French augmentatif, from Late Latin augmentāt-, stem of augmentāre.

(grammar) A form of word that expresses large size, intensity, or seniority

augmentatiu

a form of word that expresses large size, intensity, or seniority


object

From Old French object, from Medieval Latin obiectum (“object”, literally “thrown against”), from obiectus, perfect passive participle of obiciō (“I throw against”), from ob- (“against”) + iaciō (“I throw”), as a calque of Ancient Greek ἀντικείμενον (antikeímenon). Doublet of objet.

ἀντικείμενον

massive astronomical compact halo object

massive astrophysical compact halo object

prepositional phrase
prepositional phrase#English

(grammar) The noun phrase which is an internal complement of a verb phrase or a prepositional phrase. In a verb phrase with a transitive action verb, it is typically the receiver of the action.


patient

From Middle English pacient, from Middle French patient, from Old French pacient, from Latin patiens, present participle of patior (“to suffer, endure”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate, hurt”).

The subject of a passive verb is usually a patient.

The number of a first or second person participant is generally marked for both agent and patient in all aspects.

1982, Paul J. Hopper, Tense-aspect: Between Semantics & Pragmatics

Since we have argued that the absolutive argument in Dyirbal is the grammatical subject of its clause, we must conclude that in the antipassive construction the agent replaces the patient as grammatical subject.

2004, Paul Kroeger, Analyzing Syntax: A Lexical-Functional Approach, page 292

on the receiving end
on the receiving end

(linguistics, grammar) The noun or noun phrase that is semantically on the receiving end of a verb's action.


incipient

Borrowed from Latin incipiēns, present participle of incipiō (“begin”).

(grammar) A verb tense of the Hebrew language.


middle

From Middle English middel, from Old English middel, middle (“middle, centre, waist”), from Proto-Germanic *midlą, *midilą, *medalą (“middle”), a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *midjō (“middle, midst”) (compare *midjaz (“mid, middle”, adjective)), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, middle”). Cognate with West Frisian middel, Dutch middel, German mittel (“middle”, adjective), German Mittel (“middle, means”, noun), Danish middel (“means, agent, medicine; middle/medium”). Related also to Swedish medel (“means, medium”), Icelandic meðal (“means, medicine”). See also mid.


middle

knock someone into the middle of next week

(grammar) Pertaining to the middle voice.


possessive

en-adj

possessive (comparative more possessive, superlative most possessive)

more possessive (comparative)
most possessive (superlative)

From Middle French possessif, from Latin possessivus (“of or pertaining to possession”), from possessiō (“possessing”), from possidēre (“to possess”).

uder

(grammar) Indicating ownership, possession, origin, etc.


possessive

en-noun

possessive (countable and uncountable, plural possessives)

kupu whiwhinga

a word that indicates possession or the possessive case

(grammar) A word used to indicate the possessive case.


adverbial

en-adj

adverbial (comparative more adverbial, superlative most adverbial)

more adverbial (comparative)
most adverbial (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin adverbiālis. By surface analysis, adverb + -ial.

And in (123) below, a (bracketed) Adverbial Phrase has undergone WH MOVEMENT:
(123) (a) [How quickly] will he drink the beer —?
(123) (b) [How carefully] did he plan his campaign —?
(123) (c) [How well] did he treat her —?

1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 9, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 495


adverbial

ظَرْف

grammar: word or phrase modifying a verb


absolute superlative

en-noun

absolute superlative (plural absolute superlatives)

-τατος -τατος#Greek

In Greek: one of the degrees of comparison in an adjective that stresses an exceptional property without making a direct comparison, its closest equivalent in English being a most important letter, a very high mountain or absolutely pure water. It is formed by adding the suffix -τατος (declined) to the adjective's nominative, neuter singular.


flexion

flexion (countable and uncountable, plural flexions)

Borrowed from Latin flexiō, possibly via French.

(grammar, dated) The variation of words by declension, comparison, or conjugation; inflection.


exclusive

From Latin exclūsīvus, from excludere (“to shut out, exclude”), from ex- (“out”) + variant form of verb claudere (“to close, shut”).

(grammar) A word or phrase that restricts something, such as only, solely, or simply.


govern

en-verb

govern (third-person singular simple present governs, present participle governing, simple past and past participle governed)

governs (present singular third-person)
governing (participle present)
governed (participle past)
governed (past)

From Middle English governen, governe, from Anglo-Norman and Old French governer, guverner, from Latin gubernō, from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “I steer, drive, govern”).

der

Coordinate term: agree

(transitive, grammar) To require that a certain preposition, grammatical case, etc. be used with a word; sometimes used synonymously with collocate.

vaatia

grammar: to require that a certain preposition, grammatical case, etc. be used with a word


coverb

(grammar) Any of a class of words in various languages including Chinese and Hungarian whose function is analogous to the cases, prepositions, and postpositions of other languages.


preverb

(grammar) A separable verb prefix or a particle that precedes a verb.

(grammar) Any of a class of words in the Chinese language whose function is analogous to the cases, prepositions, and postpositions of other languages.

(grammar) A verbal prefix in the Algonquin languages whose function is analogous to the adjective of other languages.


relative

[ˈɹɛl.ə.ɾɪv]

From Middle French relatif, from Late Latin relātīvus, from Latin relātus, perfect passive participle of referō (“to carry back, to ascribe”), from re- (“again”) + ferō (“to bear or carry”).

The words “big” and “small” are relative.

(grammar) Depending on an antecedent; comparative.

نِسْبِيّ

conditional; depending on something else

vonatkozó

grammar: depending on an antecedent; comparative


gentile

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-gentile.wav

Borrowed from French gentil (“gentile”), from Latin gentīlis (“of or belonging to the same people or nation”), a semantic loan from Hebrew גוי, morphologically from gēns (“clan; tribe; people, family”) + adjective suffix -īlis (“-ile”). Doublet of gentle, genteel, and jaunty. See also gens, gender, genus, and generation.

Gentile verbs are so denominated because derived from gentile nouns, or from proper nouns, or adnouns: they relate to countries, and to places generally, or to men: the following are examples: Greecise, Latinise, Anglicise, […] Aristotelise, Sophoclise, Shakesperianise. Gentile verbs in their radical form terminate in ise, with some few exceptions in fy, ate, and in their past participle with ised, being all of the first conjugation: they are formed by annexing ise to a gentile noun or to a proper substantive or to a proper adjective.

1825, Samuel Oliver Jun., A General, Critical Grammar of the Inglish Language; on a System Novel, and Extensive: […], London: Published, for the author, by Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, →OCLC, page 115

Gentile Nouns. […] To this form belong our gentile nouns Englishman, Welshman, Scotchman, Irishman. These nouns are represented in Irish by adjectives or nouns of the form (1+ac): Alban-ac, Scotchman.

1854, William Barnes, “Etymology”, in A Philological Grammar: Grounded upon English, and Formed from a Comparison of More Than Sixty Languages. […], London: John Russell Smith, […], →OCLC, page 71

(grammar) Of a part of speech such as an adjective, noun or verb: relating to a particular city, nation or country.


gentile

Gentiles are denominative nouns denoting belonging to or coming from a particular country, nation, or city. Gentiles are formed from proper nouns by secondary suffixes.

1956, Herbert Weir Smyth, Gordon M. Messing, Greek Grammar, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, page 233

(grammar) A noun derived from a proper noun which denotes something belonging to or coming from a particular city, nation, or country.


connective

From connect + -ive, modeled after French connectif, from New Latin connectivus, from connectō (“I connect”); compare connect, connexive, connectivum, connection.

(grammar) A word used to connect words, clauses and sentences, most commonly applied to conjunctions.


fragment

From Late Middle English fragment, from Latin fragmentum (“a fragment, remnant”).

(grammar) A sentence not containing a subject or a predicate.


postposition

(grammar) A word that has the same purpose as a preposition but comes after the noun.

կապ

(grammar) words that come after the noun


postposition

en-verb

postposition (third-person singular simple present postpositions, present participle postpositioning, simple past and past participle postpositioned)

postpositions (present singular third-person)
postpositioning (participle present)
postpositioned (participle past)
postpositioned (past)

Nonetheless, PPs in my dataset not only make up the bulk of the non-clausal postpositionings, but they are also postpositioned at a relatively high rate, particularly in comparison to adverbs, the second most frequent form.

2020, Shannon Dubenion-Smith, “A typology of non-clausal postpositioning in German dialects”, in Janet Zhiqun Xing, editor, A Typological Approach to Grammaticalization and Lexicalization: East Meets West (Trends in Linguistics; 327), Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, →DOI, page 245

(grammar) To be placed after a the word that it modifies.


positive degree

(grammar) That state of an adjective or adverb indicating simple quality, without comparison or relation to increase or diminution; as in wise, noble.

shkalla pohore

that state of an adjective or adverb indicating simple quality, without comparison


perfect tense

կատարյալ

verb form indicating that an action has been completed

A verb form indicating that an action or state has been completed at the present time, in the past, or shall be completed in the future.

Often, specifically, the present perfect tense as distinguished from the past perfect and future perfect tenses.


defective verb

The verb can is defective in most English dialects, as it lacks an infinitive.

(grammar) A verb with an incomplete conjugation; for example, one that can only be conjugated in certain persons and numbers.


positive

en-adj

positive (comparative more positive, superlative most positive)

more positive (comparative)
most positive (superlative)

From Old French positif, from Latin positivus, from the past participle stem of ponere (“to place”). Compare posit.

‘Better’ is an irregular comparative of the positive form ‘good’.

(grammar) Describing the primary sense of an adjective, adverb or noun; not comparative, superlative, augmentative nor diminutive.

(grammar) Describing a verb that is not negated, especially in languages which have distinct positive and negative verb forms, e.g., Finnish.


positive

(grammar) A degree of comparison of adjectives and adverbs.

(grammar) An adjective or adverb in the positive degree.


enclitic

From Late Latin encliticus, from Ancient Greek ἐγκλιτικός (enklitikós, “inclined towards”), from ἐγκλίνειν (enklínein, “lean on”), from ἐν (en, “upon”) + κλίνειν (klínein, “to lean, incline”).


personal

en-adj

personal (comparative more personal, superlative most personal)

more personal (comparative)
most personal (superlative)

From Middle English personal, personele, from Anglo-Norman personel, personal, personell, Old French personal, personel, from Late Latin persōnālis (“of a person, personly”), equivalent to person + -al. Doublet of personnel.

der

(grammar) Of a noun or pronoun, having reference particular to humans and other entities having personality such as a named animal, a deity, a personification, etc.

a personal pronoun

(grammar) Related to grammatical first, second, etc. persons.


present

From Middle English present, from Old French present, from Latin praesent-, praesens, present participle of praeesse (“to be present”), from Latin prae- (“pre-”) + esse (“to be”).


oblique

en-adj

oblique (comparative obliquer, superlative obliquest)

obliquer (comparative)
obliquest (superlative)

From Middle French oblique, from Latin oblīquus (also spelled oblīcus) (“slanting, sideways, indirect, envious”).

uder

(grammar) Pertaining to the oblique case (non-nominative).

függő

grammar: pertaining to the oblique case (non-nominative)

(grammar, of speech or narration) Indirect; employing the actual words of the speaker but as related by a third person, having the first person in pronoun and verb converted into the third person and adverbs of present time into the past, etc.


past

From Middle English, past participle of passen (“to pass, to go by”), whence Modern English pass.


past

en-adj

past (comparative more past, superlative most past)

more past (comparative)
most past (superlative)

past tense

(grammar) Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state.

minulý

grammar: expressing action that has already happened


barrier

From Middle English barryer, barrere, barryȝer, from Old French barriere (compare French barrière), from Old French barre (“bar”).

(grammar) A node (in government and binding theory) said to intervene between other nodes A and B if it is a potential governor for B, c-commands B, and does not c-command A.


concomitant

First attested 1607; from Middle French concomitant, from Latin concomitāns, the present participle of concomitor (“I accompany”), from con- (“together”) + comitor (“I accompany”), from comes (“companion”).

(grammar) Of or relating to the grammatical aspect which expresses that a secondary action is occurring simultaneously to the primary action of the statement.


dot

From Middle English *dot, dotte, from Old English dott (“a dot, point”), from Proto-West Germanic *dott, from Proto-Germanic *duttaz (“wisp”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Dot, Dotte (“a clump”), Dutch dot (“lump, knot, clod”), Low German Dutte (“a plug”), dialectal Swedish dott (“a little heap, bunch, clump”).

cog

(grammar) A punctuation mark used to indicate the end of a sentence or an abbreviated part of a word; a full stop; a period.

full stop

at the end of a sentence or abbreviation


brivla

Brivla are "content words", i.e., categorematic. When acting as selbri they are roughly comparable to verbs (or adjectives (or even nouns), if the selbri's arity is one), and when acting as sumti (e.g., due to being prefixed with "le") they are comparable to nouns. If a brivla modifies another one (thereby forming a "tanru"), the modifying brivla would be comparable to an adverb or adjective (*), depending on whether the modified brivla is acting as selbri or sumti, respectively. // Footnote: (*) - the modifying brivla could instead be comparable, in some cases, to the modified brivla's predicate.

They often have no semantic meaning in themselves, though they may affect the semantics of brivla to which they are attached.

1997, John W. Cowan, The Complete Lojban Language →ISBN http://www.lojban.org/tiki/tiki-download_wiki_attachment.php?attId=194

a. 2001, Richard Curnow http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/jbofihe/
Fix major bugs in the lexical analysis for cmafi'e (brivla mis-scanned as sequences of cmavo joined together.)

a. 2003, Pierre Abbat https://web.archive.org/web/20050926021613/http://phma.hn.org/Language/valfendi.html http://web.archive.org/web/#*/http://phma.hn.org/Language/valfendi.html
Currently, it lexes cmene, cmavo, and brivla, and checkes [sic] cmene and cmavo for validity, but does not do full validity checking of brivla.

(Lojban grammar) A Lojban predicate word. Specifically, a word which may be used to express a selbri relation (a statement of truth of one kind or another) between a number of arguments. Gismu, lujvo and fu'ivla are all brivla.


visarga

Borrowed from Sanskrit विसर्ग (visarga).

XXV of Centamil published by the Tamil Sangam at Madura that in ancient times āytam was represented by visarga.

1934, P. S. Subrahmanya Sastri, History of Grammatical Theories in Tamil and Their Relation to the Grammatical Literature in Sanskrit

(phonology, Sanskrit grammar) the voiceless terminal h in Sanskrit


affirmative sentence

en-noun

affirmative sentence (plural affirmative sentences)

(grammar) A sentence that affirms (rather than negates) a proposition.


conditional mood

conditional mood (plural conditional moods)

(grammar) A form of the verb used to signify that something is contingent upon the outcome of something else.


adverbial clause

adverbial clause (plural adverbial clauses)

(grammar) A subordinate clause that functions as an adverb within a main clause.

bijwoordelijke bepaling

a subordinate clause that functions as an adverb within a main clause


attributive adjective

attributive adjective (plural attributive adjectives)

The word “red” in “the red balloon” is an attributive adjective.

In the phrase “attributive adjective”, “attributive” is the attributive adjective.

(grammar) An adjective that modifies the head of the noun phrase in which it occurs; an adjective that precedes the word or phrase it modifies.


temporal

en-adj

temporal (not generally comparable, comparative more temporal, superlative most temporal)

more temporal (comparative)
most temporal (superlative)

From Middle English temporal, temporel (“transitory, worldly, material, of secular society”), from Old French temporel or Latin temporālis (“of time (in grammar), temporary, relating to time as opposed to eternity”), from tempus (“time, period, opportunity”) + -ālis.

af

(grammar) Relating to or denoting time or tense.

Relating to time:
Relating to or denoting time or tense.


active voice

en-noun

active voice (usually uncountable, plural active voices)

"The ball was kicked by Fred." would, in active voice, be "Fred kicked the ball."

(grammar, uncountable) The form in which the subject of a verb carries out some action.

bedrywende vorm

the form in which the subject of a verb carries out some action

(grammar, countable) A form in a particular language used to express the active voice.


relative adjective

relative adjective (plural relative adjectives)

(grammar) A relative pronoun used in an adjectival clause.

關係形容詞

a relative pronoun used in an adjectival clause


predicative adjective

predicative adjective (plural predicative adjectives)

‘Complicated’ is a predicative adjective in the sentence ‘Grammar is complicated.’

In ‘This looks bad,’ the word ‘bad’ is the predicative adjective.

(grammar) An adjective that is not part of the noun clause it modifies, but is linked to it with a copula.


omission

omission (countable and uncountable, plural omissions)

From Middle English omissioun, from Old French omission, from Late Latin omissio, omissionem, from Latin omitto.

(grammar) The shortening of a word or phrase, using an apostrophe ( ' ) to replace the missing letters, often used to approximate the sound of speech or a specific dialect.

изпускане

grammar: the shortening of a word or phrase


strand

en-verb

strand (third-person singular simple present strands, present participle stranding, simple past and past participle stranded)

strands (present singular third-person)
stranding (participle present)
stranded (participle past)
stranded (past)

* From Middle English strand, strond, from Old English strand (“strand, sea-shore, shore”), from Proto-West Germanic *strand, from Proto-Germanic *strandō (“edge, rim, shore”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)trAnt- (“strand, border, field”), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“to broaden, spread out”). Cognate with West Frisian strân, Dutch strand, German Strand, Danish strand, Swedish strand, Norwegian Bokmål strand, Icelandic strönd.
* (street): Perhaps from the similarity of shape.

der

We first note that wh-movement can freely strand prepositions in Icelandic, as in the other Scandinavian languages.

1985, Joan Maling, Annie Zaenen, “Preposition-Stranding and Passive”, in Nordic Journal of Linguistics, volume 8, number 2, →DOI, page 199

In her dissertation, Goldberg (2005) offers a review of diagnostics used to identify verb-stranding VPE to that point, including tests which link the characteristics of English-style VPE (which strands an auxiliary verb) to verb-stranding VPE in languages like Hebrew and Irish.

2021, Emily Manetta, “Verb-second and the verb-stranding verb phrase ellipsis debate”, in Glossa: a journal of general linguistics, volume 6, number 1, →DOI, page 6

(transitive, grammar) To leave an element (e.g., an adposition) without its object.

懸空

(grammar) to leave an element without its object


paucal

From Latin paucālis (“few, little”), from paucus, plural paucī (“few, little, a few, the select few, the oligarchs”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little”), + Latin adjective suffix -ālis.

first-person paucal

paucal number

paucal and plural pronouns

(grammar) Pertaining to a language form referring to a few of something (three to around ten), as a small group of people; contrast singular, dual, trial, and plural.


paucal

(grammar) A language form referring to a few of something (three to around ten), as a small group of people; contrast singular, dual, trial, and plural.


virile

en-adj

virile (comparative more virile, superlative most virile)

more virile (comparative)
most virile (superlative)

From Middle French viril, from Latin virīlis, from vir (“man”, “male human”) + -īlis (suffix forming adjectives from nouns).

suffix

(grammar) Pertaining to a grammatical gender used in plurals of some Slavic languages, corresponding to the personal masculine animate nouns.


concord

en-noun

concord (countable and uncountable, plural concords)

From French concorde, Latin concordia, from concors (“of the same mind, agreeing”); con- + cor, cordis (“heart”). See heart, and compare accord.

(grammar) Agreement of words with one another, in gender, number, person, or case.


contract

en-verb

contract (third-person singular simple present contracts, present participle contracting, simple past and past participle contracted)

contracts (present singular third-person)
contracting (participle present)
contracted (participle past)
contracted (past)

From Middle English, from Middle French contracter, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”), from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”). The verb developed after the noun, and originally meant only "draw together"; the sense "make a contract with" developed later.

The word “cannot” is often contracted into “can’t”.

(grammar) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.


aspect

From Middle English aspect, from Latin aspectus (“look, sight; appearance”), from aspiciō (“see; catch sight of; inspect”), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + speciō (“look, look at, behold; observe”).

suunta

position in respect to points of a compass, the sun, etc.

takoto

of the position of land in relation to the sun

(grammar) A grammatical quality of a verb which determines the relationship of the speaker to the internal temporal flow of the event which the verb describes, or whether the speaker views the event from outside as a whole, or from within as it is unfolding.


oblique case

19. Cases of Nouns are six: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Vocative, and Ablative. As in the Latin and Greek languages, these cases are derived from the Nominative by certain rules of inflection; the Nominative being the root of all the other cases, is termed the direct case, the others are called oblique cases.

1817, Peter Edmund Laurent, An introduction to the study of German grammar; with practical exercises., London, page 13

(grammar) Any noun case except the nominative case (and sometimes the vocative case), where the noun is the object of a verb or the object of a preposition.

թեք հոլով

any noun case except the nominative (and vocative)


servile

en-adj

servile (comparative more servile, superlative most servile)

more servile (comparative)
most servile (superlative)

From Middle English servyle, from Old French servil, servile, from Latin servīlis, from servus (“slave”).

a servile letter

(grammar) Not belonging to the original root.

(grammar) Not sounded, but serving to lengthen the preceding vowel, like the e in tune.


servile

(grammar) An element which forms no part of the original root.


dislocation

en-noun

dislocation (countable and uncountable, plural dislocations)

From Middle English, from Old French, a borrowing from Medieval Latin dislocātiō, delocatio.

(grammar) A sentence structure in which a constituent that could otherwise be either an argument or an adjunct of a clause occurs outside of and adjacent to the clause boundaries.


derivation

derivation (countable and uncountable, plural derivations)

From Middle English derivacioun, borrowed from Middle French dérivation, from Latin dērīvātiō, dērīvātiōnem.
Morphologically derive + -ation

(grammar) Forming a new word by changing the base of another word or by adding affixes to it.

törəmə

forming a new word by changing the base of another word or by adding affixes to it


coordination

coordination (usually uncountable, plural coordinations)

/kəʊˌɔːdɪˈneɪʃən/

/koʊˌɔɹdɪˈneɪʃən/

/kəʉˌoːdɪˈnæɪʃən/

From Middle French coordination, from Late Latin coōrdinātiōnem (accusative of coōrdinātiō), from con- + ōrdinātiō.
Morphologically coordinate + -ion.

en:conjoining of phrases with a conjunction

(grammar) An equal joining together of two or more phrases or clauses, for example, using and, or, or but.

coordenação

an equal joining together of two or more phrases or clauses


inalienable

Borrowed around 1645 from French inaliénable, from in- + aliénable (“alienable”).

(grammar) Of or pertaining to a noun belonging to a special class in which the possessive construction differs from the norm, especially for particular familial relationships and body parts.

inalienável

grammar: of a noun class belonging to a special class


extension

extension (countable and uncountable, plural extensions)

From Middle English extensioun, from Old French estension, from Latin extensiō, extensiōnem.

(grammar) A kind of derivative morpheme applied to verbs in Bantu languages.


sequential

(grammar, of a verb and adjective form in Korean) Expressing succession of events.

Succeeding or following in order.
Expressing succession of events.


primitive

en-adj

primitive (comparative more primitive, superlative most primitive)

more primitive (comparative)
most primitive (superlative)

From Middle English primitif, from Old French primitif, from Latin prīmitīvus (“first or earliest of its kind”), from prīmus (“first”); see prime. Doublet of primitivo.

prymitywny

old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity

a primitive verb

Division of words. Words are primitive or radical, and derivative or compound.
Of primitive words. Primitive or radical words are such as cannot be divided, or separated into parts which are significant; as man, hope, bless.

1831, Noah Webster, Rudiments of English Grammar; Being an Abridgment of the Improved Grammar of the English Language, New-Haven, page 6

(grammar) Original; primary; radical; not derived.


potential

en-noun

potential (countable and uncountable, plural potentials)

From Late Latin potentialis, from Latin potentia (“power”), from potens (“powerful”). By surface analysis, potent + -ial.

(grammar) A verbal construction or form stating something is possible or probable.


potential

(grammar) Referring to a verbal construction of form stating something is possible or probable.


short form

нов, нова, ново, новы (nov, nova, novo, novy) are short forms of новый (novyj).

(grammar) Particularly in Slavic languages, a shortened form of the adjective, used predicatively.

forma curta

shortened form of an adjective, used predicatively


reciprocal

From Latin reciprocus, possibly from a phrase such as reque proque (“back and forth, to and fro”), from re- (“back”), prō (“forwards”) and -que (“and”).

(grammar) Expressing mutual action, applied to pronouns and verbs; also in a broad sense: reflexive.

kölcsönös

grammar: expressing mutual action, applied to pronouns and verbs


reciprocal

Depending on where reciprocalization applies (syntax vs. lexicon), the relevant reciprocal verbs are claimed to exhibit specific properties, in particular: (i) syntactic reciprocals are fully productive whereas lexical reciprocals have only limited productivity; […]

2008, Ekkehard König, Volker Gast, Reciprocals and Reflexives: Theoretical and Typological Explorations

(grammar) A construction expressing mutual action.


concordance

concordance (countable and uncountable, plural concordances)

From Old French concordance, from Late Latin concordantia.

(grammar, obsolete) Agreement of words with one another; concord.


periphery

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *per-der.
Ancient Greek περί (perí)
Ancient Greek περῐ- (peri-)
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-
Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti
Proto-Hellenic *pʰérō
Ancient Greek φέρω (phérō)
Ancient Greek περιφέρω (periphérō)
Proto-Indo-European *-os
Proto-Indo-European *-ēs
Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs)
Ancient Greek περιφερής (peripherḗs)
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂der.
Ancient Greek -ια (-ia)
Ancient Greek περιφέρεια (periphéreia)bor.
Latin peripheriabor.
Middle French peripheriebor.
English periphery
Borrowed from Middle French peripherie. Compare Middle English periferie (“one of three layers of atmosphere (lower, middle, and upper) believed to surround the Earth”), from the same origin, although the Modern English term most likely does not descend from it.

m+

(grammar, linguistics) a distinction made by some proponentss of universal grammar between the basic, regular aspects of a language (core) and the more anomalous and infrequent aspects (periphery)


progressive

/pɹəˈɡɹɛsɪv/

/pɹəˈɡɹɛsɪv/

/pɹəˈɡɹesɪv/

From the Middle French progressif, from the Latin prōgressīvus, from prōgredior (perfect participial stem: prōgress-) + -īvus. Displaced native Old English forþgenġe.

suffix

perfect participial stem: <i class="Latn mention" lang="la">prōgress-</i>

(grammar) A progressive verb; a verb used in the progressive tense and (in English) generally conjugated to end in -ing.


occurrence

From Middle French occurrence, from Medieval Latin occurrentia.
Morphologically occur + -ence.

The time interval of an occurrence—a temporal instantiation—is a single occasion. However, a series of such occasions can fall within a certain time interval; in this case we may represent the occurrence as a single situation (cf. I ran off and on for an hour, I ran and ran for an hour, I would run and then run some more).

1991, Robert Binnick, Time and the Verb: A Guide to Tense and Aspect, page 180

The most basic Aktionsart distinction is between states and occurrences. […]Based on consideration of inherent differences between the events involved, Vendler distinguished three different types of occurrence, achievements, activities, and accomplishments.

2010, Nick Riemer, Introducing Semantics, page 320

(grammar, semantics) The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that change in or over time.


negative

/ˈnɛ(e)ɡəˌɾɪv/

From Middle English negative, negatif, from Old French negatif, from Latin negātīvus (“that denies, negative”), from negāre (“to deny”); see negate.

der

(grammar) A word that indicates negation.


satellite

From Middle French satellite, from Latin satelles (“attendant”). Ultimately perhaps of Etruscan origin.

(grammar) A grammatical construct that takes various forms and may encode a path of movement, a change of state, or the grammatical aspect. Examples: "a bird flew past"; "she turned on the light".


set phrase

Bally remarks in passing, as Hall does not, that the inversion in toujours est-il que is part of a set phrase and hence invariable.

1951, Gordon M. Messing, “Structuralism and Literary Tradition”, in Language, volume 27, number 1, page 3

American courts sometimes use cherry in place of apple, but the latter fruit vastly predominates. The American version is that rare set phrase that is not so well set, variations on the phrase being more common than the main phrase itself.

2009, Bryan A. Garner, Garner on Language and Writing, page 525

(grammar) An established expression whose wording is subject to little or no variation, and which may or may not be idiomatic.

If it proves clearly unfeasible to make the audience laugh at a thin and far-fetched joke, it is always better to change the way the joke works . . . for instance, a pun based on the speaker's taking literally some set phrase or metaphor with a pun based on phonetic similarity.

1992, Stanislaw Baranczak, "How to Translate Shakespeare's Humor?: (Reflections of a Polish Translator)", in the Performing Arts Journal, volume 14, number 3, page 83

(grammar) An idiomatic expression in general.


appositive

(grammar) a word or phrase that is in apposition


apposition

en-noun

apposition (countable and uncountable, plural appositions)

/ˌæpəˈzɪʃn̩/

From Middle English apposicioun, from Middle French apposition, from Latin appositiō, past participle of appōnere (“to put near”).

The apposition in the title has been read as indicating that ‘Hobson-Jobson’ is equivalent to ‘colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases’.

2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look At `Hobson-Jobson'”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 65

(grammar) A construction in which one noun or noun phrase is placed with another as an explanatory equivalent, both of them having the same syntactic function in the sentence.

(grammar) The relationship between such nouns or noun phrases.


intransitive

The word "drink" is a transitive verb in "they drink wine", but an intransitive one in "they drink often."

(grammar, of a verb) Not transitive: not having, or not taking, a direct object.


intransitive

This means that subcategorization properties do not allow us to distinguish between transitives and intransitives (both types of verbs are allowed, but not obliged, to take a direct object).

2011, Carmen Dobrovie-Sorin, The Syntax of Romanian: Comparative Studies in Romance, page 136


possessive case

possessive case (plural possessive cases)

Substantives in the English tongue, have only two terminations for case: the nominative, which merely expresses the name of the thing, and the possessive, or genitive case, made by the addition of s, with an apostrophe before it, which denotes property: all other realtions between substantives, as this also very often, are expressed by different prepositions: for example---a freeman's rights; or the rights of a freeman.
When one thing is expressed as belonging to another, then one of the substantives is said to govern the other in the genitive, or possessive case; thus, Milton's poems; the king's gift; William's book. Here the former substantive, ending in s, marked with an apostrophe, is the word governed; as Milton's: the latter is the word that governs; as, poems: the former is in the genitive case, which is marked thus, 's, which mark is called the possessive 's.

1784, An Essay towards an English Grammar. With a Dissertation on the Nature and peculiar Use of certain Hypothetical Verbs, in the English Language., London, p.5 & p.83

(grammar) case used to express direct possession, ownership, origin, etc. Though similar in many ways to the genitive case, it is not always the same. Languages that have the possessive case include English and Quenya.


construction

construction (countable and uncountable, plural constructions)

→ Mongolian: констракшн (konstrakšn)

From Middle English construccioun, construction, from Old French construction, from Latin cōnstructiō, from cōnstruere, present active infinitive of cōnstruō.
Morphologically construct + -ion.

(grammar) A group of words arranged to form a meaningful phrase.


ellipse

From French ellipse. Doublet of ellipsis.

(grammar) The removal from a phrase of a word which is grammatically needed, but which is clearly understood without having to be stated.


ellipse

en-verb

ellipse (third-person singular simple present ellipses, present participle ellipsing, simple past and past participle ellipsed)

ellipses (present singular third-person)
ellipsing (participle present)
ellipsed (participle past)
ellipsed (past)

In B's response to A's question:- (A: Would you like to go out?, B: I'd love to), the words that are ellipsed are go out.

(grammar) To remove from a phrase a word which is grammatically needed, but which is clearly understood without having to be stated.


role

→ Spanish: rol

From French rôle, from Middle French rolle, from Old French role, from Medieval Latin rotulus. Doublet of roll and rotulus.

massively multiplayer online role-playing game

Examining these verbs one by one, what one finds is that Auxiliary Selection does correlate in the expected way with the two kinds of optional transitivity, confirming that with each predicate, one semantic role has a fixed link with initial 1-hood, another with initial 2-hood.

1984, David M. Perlmutter, Carol G. Rosen, Studies in relational grammar: Volume 2

(grammar) The function of a word in a phrase.

funció

(grammar) the function of a word in a phrase


proposition

en-noun

proposition (countable and uncountable, plural propositions)

/ˌpɹɑpəˈzɪʃən/

From Middle English proposicioun, from Old French proposicion, from Latin prōpositiō, from the verb prōponō.

väite

math: assertion which can be considered true or false

Our English nouns remain unchanged, whether they form the subject or the object of a proposition.

c. 1888, The Popular Educator: a Complete Encyclopaedia of Elementary, Advanced, and Technical Education. New and Revised Edition. Volume I., page 98


classifier

American Sign Language
American Sign Language

(linguistics) A word or morpheme used in some languages (such as Japanese and American Sign Language), in certain contexts (such as counting), to indicate the semantic class to which something belongs.


auxiliary

/ɔːɡˈzɪli.əɹi/

/ɔɡˈzɪliɛɹi/

/ɑɡˈzɪliɛɹi/

From Latin auxiliārius (“assistant, ally”), equiv. to auxiliāris (“helping, aiding”), from auxilium (“help, aid”), from augēre (“to increase”).

(grammar) Relating to an auxiliary verb.


auxiliary

/ɔːɡˈzɪli.əɹi/

/ɔɡˈzɪliɛɹi/

/ɑɡˈzɪliɛɹi/

The three traditionally recognized Non-modal Auxiliaries are the per-
fective Auxiliary have, the progressive Auxiliary be, and the passive Auxiliary
be. Perfective have is so-called because it marks the completion (hence, perfec-
tion) of an action; it is followed by a VP headed by a perfective -n participle, as
in:
(121) The referee has [_(VP) shown him the red card]

1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 151


refer

en-verb

refer (third-person singular simple present refers, present participle referring, simple past and past participle referred)

refers (present singular third-person)
referring (participle present)
referred (participle past)
referred (past)

From Middle English referren, from Old French referer, from Latin referre. The noun (used in journalism) is from the verb.

(grammar) To be referential to another element in a sentence.


pluperfect tense

en-noun

pluperfect tense (plural pluperfect tenses)

From Latin plus (“more”) + perfectus (“perfect”).

(grammar, of a verb) Tense of a verb used when referring to something that happened before a past setting or the imperfect; formed in English by adding had before the past participle of a verb, or by adding had been before the present participle of the verb.