comparative

English

Etymology

Originated 1400–50 from late Middle English comparative, from Latin comparativus, equivalent to comparatus, from comparare (“to compare”) + -ive, from Latin -ivus.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /kəmˈpæɹ.ə.tɪf/, SAMPA: /k@m"p{r.@.tIf/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

comparative (comparative more comparative, superlative most comparative)

1. Of or relating to comparison.
2. Using comparison as a method of study, or founded on something using it.
3. Approximated by comparison; relative.
4. (obsolete) Comparable; bearing comparison.
   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.137:

     And need he had of slumber yet, for none / Had suffered more—his hardships were comparative / To those related in my grand-dad's Narrative.

Derived terms

• comparatively
• comparativeness
• comparativism
• comparativist
• comparativistic

Translations

of or relating to comparison

Bulgarian: сравнителен (bg) Catalan: comparatiu (ca) Finnish: verrannollinen (fi), vertaileva (fi) French: comparatif (fr) m.

Italian: comparativo (it) m. Persian: تفضیلی (fa), تطبیقی (fa) Romanian: comparativ (ro) Russian: сравнительный (ru) (sravnít'el'nyj)

using comparison as a method of study

Bulgarian: сравнителен (bg) Catalan: comparatiu (ca) Finnish: vertaileva (fi)

French: comparatif (fr) m. Italian: comparativo (it) m. Russian: сравнительный (ru) (sravnít'el'nyj)

relative

Bulgarian: относителен (bg) Finnish: suhteellinen (fi), verrannollinen (fi)

Russian: относительный (ru) (otnosít'el'nyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Old English: wiþmetenlic, wiþmetendlic German: vergleichend

Noun

Wikipedia comparative (plural comparatives)

1. (grammar) A construction showing a relative quality, in English usually formed by adding more or appending -er. For example, the comparative of green is greener; of evil, more evil.
2. (grammar) A word in the comparative form.

Translations

grammatical construction

Bulgarian: сравнителна степен (bg) Catalan: comparatiu (ca) m. Croatian: kȍmparatīv (hr) m. Faroese: miðstig (fo) n. Finnish: komparatiivi (fi), vertailumuoto (fi) French: comparatif (fr) m.

German: Vergleichsform (de) f., Komparativ (de) m. Hungarian: középfok (hu) Italian: comparativo (it) m. Polish: stopień wyższy (pl) m. Spanish: comparativo (es) m.

word in comparative form

Catalan: comparatiu (ca) m. Chinese: Simplified: 比较 Traditional: 比較 Croatian: kȍmparatīv (hr) m. Czech: komparativ (cs) m. Dutch: vergrotende trap (nl) m. Finnish: komparatiivi (fi), vertailumuoto (fi) French: comparatif (fr) m. German: Komparativ (de) m. Icelandic: miðstig (is) n. Italian: comparativo (it) Japanese: 比較級 (ja)

Korean: 비교급 (ko) (bu-gyo-geup,比較級) Latin: comparativus (la) m. Norwegian: komparativ (no) Novial: komparative Old English: óðere wordmittung f., óðere wordsomnung f.; Persian: صفت برتر (sefat-e bartar) Polish: stopień wyższy (pl) m. Portuguese: comparativo (pt) m. Russian: сравнительная степень (sravnítel’naja stépen’) f. Spanish: comparativo (es) m. Swedish: komparativ (sv) n. Vietnamese: cấp so sánh

Related terms

• absolute, absolute superlative, relative superlative, comparative superlative
• degrees of comparison
• superlative

References

• “comparative” in The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
• “comparative” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• "comparative" in WordNet 3.0, Princeton University, 2006.

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Italian

Adjective

comparative f.

1. feminine plural form of comparativo

Anagrams

• comparivate
• crepitavamo

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Latin

Adjective

comparātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of comparātīvus