"infinitival" meaning in English

See infinitival in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Forms: more infinitival [comparative], most infinitival [superlative]
Rhymes: -aɪvəl Etymology: From infinitive + -al. Etymology templates: {{suffix|en|infinitive|al}} infinitive + -al Head templates: {{en-adj}} infinitival (comparative more infinitival, superlative most infinitival)
  1. Of, pertaining to, or formed from an infinitive.
    Sense id: en-infinitival-en-adj-BwJk-FyK Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -al, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 84 16 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -al: 76 24 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 84 16 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 89 11
  2. Having a function or usage similar to an infinitive.
    Sense id: en-infinitival-en-adj-bYWad~t3
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: infinite, infinity
{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "finite"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "infinitive",
        "3": "al"
      },
      "expansion": "infinitive + -al",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From infinitive + -al.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more infinitival",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most infinitival",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "infinitival (comparative more infinitival, superlative most infinitival)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "infinite"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "infinity"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "84 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "76 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -al",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "84 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 2 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "89 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 7, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 360:",
          "text": "For example, we want to be able to stipulate in the lexical entry for persuade simply that it takes an NP and a clausal Complement ([...]). From the meaning of persuade, it will follow that the clausal Complement cannot be interrogative or exclamative. From independent word-order restrictions (an NP Complement must be positioned immediately adjacent to its sister V), it will follow that an NP Complement must precede the clausal Complement. Given that both Exceptional Clauses and Small Clauses must immediately follow a transitive Verb, it will follow that the clausal Complement of persuade cannot be an S or an SC, but rather must be an S-bar. Given that S-bar can be either finite or infinitival, we should expect to find that in the unmarked case, either type of clausal Complement is possible with persuade: and examples such as the following suggest that this is correct:\n (64) (a) Mary persuaded John [_(Sʼ) [_C that] he should resign]\n (64) (b) Mary persuaded John [_(Sʼ) [_C e] PRO to resign]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of, pertaining to, or formed from an infinitive."
      ],
      "id": "en-infinitival-en-adj-BwJk-FyK",
      "links": [
        [
          "infinitive",
          "infinitive"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Having a function or usage similar to an infinitive."
      ],
      "id": "en-infinitival-en-adj-bYWad~t3"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "rhymes": "-aɪvəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "infinitival"
}
{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "finite"
    }
  ],
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms suffixed with -al",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/aɪvəl",
    "Rhymes:English/aɪvəl/5 syllables"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "infinitive",
        "3": "al"
      },
      "expansion": "infinitive + -al",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From infinitive + -al.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more infinitival",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most infinitival",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "infinitival (comparative more infinitival, superlative most infinitival)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "infinite"
    },
    {
      "word": "infinity"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 7, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 360:",
          "text": "For example, we want to be able to stipulate in the lexical entry for persuade simply that it takes an NP and a clausal Complement ([...]). From the meaning of persuade, it will follow that the clausal Complement cannot be interrogative or exclamative. From independent word-order restrictions (an NP Complement must be positioned immediately adjacent to its sister V), it will follow that an NP Complement must precede the clausal Complement. Given that both Exceptional Clauses and Small Clauses must immediately follow a transitive Verb, it will follow that the clausal Complement of persuade cannot be an S or an SC, but rather must be an S-bar. Given that S-bar can be either finite or infinitival, we should expect to find that in the unmarked case, either type of clausal Complement is possible with persuade: and examples such as the following suggest that this is correct:\n (64) (a) Mary persuaded John [_(Sʼ) [_C that] he should resign]\n (64) (b) Mary persuaded John [_(Sʼ) [_C e] PRO to resign]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of, pertaining to, or formed from an infinitive."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "infinitive",
          "infinitive"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Having a function or usage similar to an infinitive."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "rhymes": "-aɪvəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "infinitival"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-18 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (e4a2c88 and 4230888). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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