ablative

See also: Ablative

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English ablative, ablatife, ablatyf, ablatif, from Old French ablatif (“the ablative case”), from Latin ablātīvus (“expressing removal”),[1] from ablātus (“taken away”), from auferō (“I take away”). The engineering/nautical sense originates from ablate + -ive.

Pronunciation
  • (grammar): (US) IPA(key): /ˈæb.lə.tɪv/
  • (engineering, nautical): IPA(key): /əˈbleɪ.tɪv/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (CA)(file)

Adjective

ablative (not comparable)

  1. (grammar) Applied to one of the cases of the noun in some languages, the fundamental meaning of the case being removal, separation, or taking away, and to a lesser degree, instrument, place, accordance, specifications, price, or measurement. [First attested from around (1350 to 1470).][2]
  2. (archaic) Pertaining to taking away or removing. [Attested from the mid 16th century until the early 18th century.][2]
    • 1622, Joseph Hall, The Works of Joseph Hall: Sermons‎, page 123:
      Where the heart is forestalled with misopinion, ablative directions are found needful to unteach error, ere we can learn truth.
  3. (engineering, nautical, astronautics) Sacrificial, wearing away or being destroyed in order to protect the underlying material, as in ablative paints used for antifouling, or ablative heat shields used to protect spacecraft during reentry. [First attested in 1959.].[3]
    • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Weapons: Ablative Armor Codex entry:
      The inner layer of warship protection consists of ablative armor plate designed to "boil away" when heated. The vaporized armor material scatters a DEW beam, rendering it ineffectual.
  4. (medicine) Relating to the removal of a body part, tumor, or organ. [First attested in the mid 20th century.][2]
  5. (geology) Relating to the erosion of a land mass; relating to the melting or evaporation of a glacier. [First attested in the mid 20th century.][2]

Derived terms

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

Noun

ablative (plural ablatives)

  1. (grammar) The ablative case. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][2]
  2. An ablative material. [Mid 20th century.][2]

Derived terms

Translations
ablative case — see ablative case

References
  1. William Morris, editor (1969 (1971 printing)), “ablative”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, New York, N.Y.: American Heritage Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 3.
  2. Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “ablative”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 5.
  3. Elliott K. Dobbie, C. William Dunmore, Robert K. Barnhart, et al. (editors), Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2004 [1998], →ISBN), page 3

French

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /a.bla.tiv/

Adjective

ablative

  1. feminine singular of ablatif

Italian

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /a.blaˈti.ve/
  • Rhymes: -ive
  • Hyphenation: a‧bla‧tì‧ve

Adjective

ablative f pl

  1. feminine plural of ablativo

Latin

Pronunciation

Adjective

ablātīve

  1. vocative masculine singular of ablātīvus

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈɑːblatiːʋə/
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -iːʋə
  • Hyphenation: ab‧la‧ti‧ve

Adjective

ablative

  1. definite singular of ablativ
  2. plural of ablativ
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