-ive

See also: ive, īve, IVE, and I've

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman -if (feminine -ive), from Latin -ivus. Until the fourteenth century all Middle English loanwords from Anglo-Norman ended in -if (compare actif, natif, sensitif, pensif etc.), and under the influence of literary Neo-Latin both languages introduced the form -ive. Those forms that have not been replaced were subsequently changed to end in -y (compare hasty, from hastif, jolly, from jolif etc.).

Like the Latin suffix -io (genitive -ionis), the Latin suffix -ivus is appended to the perfect passive participle to form an adjective of action.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪv/

Suffix

-ive

1. An adjective suffix signifying relating or belonging to, of the nature of, tending to, or serving to; as: affirmative, active, conclusive, corrective, diminutive.

Derived terms

• attractive
• active
• affirmative
• competitive
• conclusive
• constructive
• corrective
• curative
• derivative
• diminutive

• expensive
• massive
• narrative
• negative
• passive
• pensive
• sedative
• vindicative, vindictive
• violative

Translations

adjectival suffix: of the nature of; tending to

• Asturian: -ivu
• Catalan: -iu (ca)
• Dutch: -ief (nl), -ieve
• Finnish: -iivi, -iivinen
• French: -if (fr) m, -ive f
• Galician: -ivo
• German: -iv (de)
• Hungarian: -ív
• Irish: -ach

• Italian: -ivo m, -iva f, -ivi m pl, -ive f pl
• Japanese: -的 (ja) (-teki)
• Latin: -ivus m, -iva f, -ivum n, -ivi m pl, -ivae f pl, -iva n pl
• Malay: -if
• Portuguese: -ivo (pt)
• Romanian: -iv m, -ivă f
• Russian: -и́вный (-ívnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: -ivan m, -ivna f, -ivno n
• Spanish: -ivo (es) m, -iva (es) f
• Swedish: -iv (sv)

References

• -ive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• Miller, D. Gary (2006) Latin Suffixal Derivatives in English and Their Indo-European Ancestry, Oxford University Press, page 204

Anagrams

• VEI, vie

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Latin

Suffix

-īve

1. vocative masculine singular of -īvus

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Middle English

Suffix

-ive

1. Alternative form of -yf