adjective

adjective
adjective late 14c., as an adjective, "adjectival," in noun adjective, from O.Fr. adjectif (14c.), from L. adjectivum "that is added to (the noun)," neut. of adjectivus "added," from pp. of adicere "to throw or place (a thing) near," from ad- "to" (see AD- (Cf. ad-)) + comb. form of iacere "to throw" (see JET (Cf. jet) (v.)). Also as a noun from late 14c. (adjectives not clearly distinguished from nouns in Middle English). In 19c. Britain, the word itself often was a euphemism for the taboo adjective BLOODY (Cf. bloody).
They ... slept until it was cool enough to go out with their 'Towny,' whose vocabulary contained less than six hundred words, and the Adjective. [Kipling, "Soldiers Three," 1888]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • adjective — 1. general. The term adjective was itself an adjective for a hundred years before it became used as a noun for one of the parts of speech. Joseph Priestley, in The Rudiments of English Grammar (1761), was perhaps the first English grammarian to… …   Modern English usage

  • Adjective — Ad jec*tive, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Adjectived}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Adjectiving}.] To make an adjective of; to form or change into an adjective. [R.] [1913 Webster] Language has as much occasion to adjective the distinct signification of the verb,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Adjective — Ad jec*tive ([a^]d j[e^]k*t[i^]v), a. [See {Adjective}, n.] [1913 Webster] 1. Added to a substantive as an attribute; of the nature of an adjunct; as, an adjective word or sentence. [1913 Webster] 2. Not standing by itself; dependent. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • adjective — [aj′ik tiv] n. [ME & OFr adjectif < L adjectivus, that is added < adjectus, pp. of adjicere, to add to < ad , to + jacere, to throw: see JET1] any of a class of words used to modify a noun or other substantive, as by describing qualities …   English World dictionary

  • Adjective — Ad jec*tive, n. [L. adjectivum (sc. nomen), neut. of adjectivus that is added, fr. adjicere: cf. F. adjectif. See {Adject}.] 1. (Gram.) A word used with a noun, or substantive, to express a quality of the thing named, or something attributed to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • adjective — ► NOUN Grammar ▪ a word used to describe or modify a noun, such as sweet, red, or technical. DERIVATIVES adjectival adjective. ORIGIN Old French adjectif, from Latin adicere add …   English terms dictionary

  • adjective — index procedural Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • adjective — [n] word that modifies a noun accessory, additional, adjunct, adnoun, attribute, attributive, dependent, descriptive, identifier, modifier, qualifier; concept 275 …   New thesaurus

  • Adjective — Examples That s an interesting idea. (attributive) That idea is interesting. (predicative) Tell me something interesting. (postpositive) The good, the bad, and the ugly. (substantive) In grammar, an adjective is a describing word; the main… …   Wikipedia

  • adjective — /ˈædʒəktɪv / (say ajuhktiv) noun 1. Grammar a. one of the major word classes in many languages, comprising words that typically modify a noun. b. such a word, as wise in a wise ruler, or in she is wise. –adjective 2. Grammar relating to an… …  

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”