adjective

See also: adjectivé

English

Etymology

From Middle English adjectif, adjective, from Old French adjectif, from Latin adiectivus, from adiciō + -īvus, from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + iaciō (“throw”). The Latin word adiectivus in turn was a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπιθετικόν (epithetikón, “added”), a derivative of the compound verb ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi), from which also comes epithet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/, /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɛk.tɪv/, /ˈæd͡ʒ.ək.tɪv/, /ˈæd͡ʒ.ə.tɪv/

• Audio (GA):

  (file)

Noun

adjective (plural adjectives)

1. (grammar) A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent.

   The words “big” and “heavy” are English adjectives.

   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 8:

     "They'll have to invent new adjectives when I come back. You wait!"

2. (obsolete) A dependent; an accessory.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The History of the University of Cambridge, since the Conquest, [London]: [[…] Iohn Williams […]], →OCLC:

     it must be an adjective of dain

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:adjective

Hyponyms

• attributive adjective
• cardinal adjective
• demonstrative adjective
• descriptive adjective
• indefinite adjective
• interrogative adjective
• limiting adjective
• nominalized adjective
• noun adjunct
• numerical adjective
• ordinal adjective
• participial adjective
• possessional adjective
• possessive adjective
• postpositive adjective
• predicative adjective
• prepositive adjective
• privative adjective
• proper adjective
• quasi-adjective
• relational adjective
• relative adjective
• substantive adjective

 

Derived terms

• adjectival
• adjective clause
• adjective patterns
• adjective phrase
• adjective pronoun
• adjective verb
• common adjective
• deadjectival
• proper adjective

 

Translations

(grammar) a word that modifies a noun or describes a noun’s referent

• Afrikaans: byvoeglike naamwoord (af)
• Albanian: mbiemër (sq), adjektiv
• Amharic: ቅጽል (am) (ḳəṣl)
• Arabic: نَعْت m (naʕt), صِفَة (ar) f (ṣifa)
• Aragonese: adchectivo (an) m
• Aramaic: גדשניא m (gedšanāya)
• Armenian: ածական (hy) (acakan)
• Assamese: please add this translation if you can
• Asturian: axetivu (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: sifət (az)
• Bashkir: сифат (sifat)
• Basque: adjektibo, izenondo
• Bavarian: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: прыме́тнік m (prymjétnik)
• Bengali: বিশেষণ (bn) (biśeśon)
• Bikol Central: panladawan, panmidbid
• Bishnupriya Manipuri: please add this translation if you can
• Breton: anv-gwan (br) m, adanv (br) m
• Bulgarian: прилага́телно и́ме (bg) n (prilagátelno íme), прилага́телно (bg) n (prilagátelno)
• Burmese: နာမဝိသေသန (my) (nama.wi.sesa.na.)
• Buryat: тэмдэгэй нэрэ (temdegej nere)
• Catalan: adjectiu (ca) m
• Cebuano: please add this translation if you can
• Chechen: билгалдош (bilgaldoš)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 形容詞／形容词 (jing⁴ jung⁴ ci⁴), 形容词 (jing⁴ jung⁴ ci⁴)

  Mandarin: 形容詞／形容词 (zh) (xíngróngcí), 形容词 (zh) (xíngróngcí)

  Min Nan: 形容詞／形容词, 形容词 (hêng-iông-sû)

• Chuvash: паллӑ ячӗ (pallă jač̬ĕ)
• Cornish: hanow gwan m
• Corsican: agettivu, aggettivu (co), aghjettivu (co)
• Crimean Tatar: sıfat
• Czech: přídavné jméno (cs) n
• Danish: adjektiv (da) n, egenskabsord n, tillægsord n
• Dhivehi: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: bijvoeglijk naamwoord (nl) n, adjectief (nl) n
• Erzya: раствал (rastval)
• Esperanto: a-vorto (eo), adjektivo (eo)
• Estonian: omadussõna, adjektiiv (et)
• Faroese: lýsingarorð (fo) n
• Finnish: adjektiivi (fi), laatusana (fi)
• French: nom adjectif (fr) m, adjectif (fr) m

  Old French: nons adjectyfs (Anglo-Norman; in plural)

• Friulian: agetîv
• Galician: adxectivo (gl) m
• Georgian: ზედსართავი სახელი (zedsartavi saxeli)
• German: Adjektiv (de) n, Eigenschaftswort (de) n, Beiwort (de) n, Wiewort (de) n, Beschreibungswort n
• Greek: επίθετο (el) n (epítheto)

  Ancient: ἐπίθετον n (epítheton), ἐπιθετικόν n (epithetikón)

• Greenlandic: pissusilerissut
• Hausa: please add this translation if you can
• Hawaiian: haʻiʻano
• Hebrew: שֵׁם תּוֹאַר / שֵׁם תֹּאַר m (shem to'ar)
• Hindi: बिशेषण m (biśeṣaṇ), विशेषण (hi) m (viśeṣaṇ)
• Hungarian: melléknév (hu)
• Icelandic: lýsingarorð (is) n
• Ido: adjektivo (io)
• Indonesian: kata sifat (id), adjektiva (id), kata keadaan (id)
• Interlingua: adjectivo (ia)
• Irish: aidiacht (ga) f
• Italian: aggettivo (it) m
• Japanese: 形容詞 (ja) (けいようし, keiyōshi) (for "い" ending in Japanese, and translation for "adjective" in other languages), 形容動詞 (ja) (けいようどうし, keiyō-dōshi) (for "だ/な" ending)
• Javanese:tembung kahanan, tembung sipat
• Kannada: ವಿಶೇಷಣ (kn) (viśēṣaṇa)
• Kashmiri : باوُت (bāvut)
• Kashubian: przëdownik m
• Kazakh: сын есім (kk) (syn esım)
• Khmer: គុណនាម (km) (kunaʼniəm), វិសេសន (km) (viseesaʼnaʼ)
• Korean: 형용사(形容詞) (ko) (hyeong'yongsa)
• Kyrgyz: сын атооч (ky) (sın atooc)
• Lao: ຄຳຄຸນນາມ (lo) (kham khun nām)
• Latin: nomen adjectum n, adjectum n, adiectivum (la) n
• Latvian: īpašības vārds (lv) m, adjektīvs (lv) m
• Limburgish: bievooglik naamwaord n
• Lingala: likonzámí
• Lithuanian: būdvardis (lt) m
• Low German:

  German Low German: Adjektiv

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lower Sorbian: adjektiw m
• Luganda: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: Adjektiv (lb) n
• Macedonian: придавка f (pridavka)
• Malay: kata sifat (ms), kata keadaan, adjektif (ms)
• Malayalam: നാമവിശേഷണം (ml) (nāmaviśēṣaṇaṁ)
• Maltese: aġġettiv (mt)
• Manx: marennym m
• Maori: kupuāhua
• Marathi: विशेषण n (viśeṣaṇa)
• Mongolian:

  тэмдэг нэр (mn) (temdeg ner) ᠲᠡᠮᠳᠡᠭ
  ᠨᠡᠷ᠎ᠡ (temdeg ner-e)

  тэмдэг үг (temdeg üg) ᠲᠡᠮᠳᠡᠭ
  ᠦᠭᠡ (temdeg üge) (Inner Mongolia)

• Nepali: विशेषण (ne) (viśeṣaṇ)
• Norman: adjectif m (Jersey)
• Northern Sami: adjektiiva
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: adjektiv (no) n, eigenskapsord n, tilleggsord n

  Nynorsk: adjektiv (nn) n, eigenskapsord n, tilleggsord n

• Occitan: adjectiu (oc) m
• Old English: tōġeīecendlīċ
• Oriya: ବିଶେଷଣ (or) (biśeshaṇa)
• Pali: visesana
• Pashto: صفت (ps) m (sefát)
• Persian: صفت (fa) (sefat)
• Plautdietsch: Ieejenschoftswuat n
• Polish: przymiotnik (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: adjetivo (pt)
• Quechua: sutip rampaqnin
• Romagnol: please add this translation if you can
• Romani:

  Kalo Finnish Romani: adjektiivos

• Romanian: adjectiv (ro) n
• Romansch: adjectiv
• Russian: и́мя прилага́тельное (ru) n (ímja prilagátelʹnoje), прилага́тельное (ru) n (prilagátelʹnoje)
• Rwanda-Rundi: please add this translation if you can
• Sanskrit: विशेषण (sa) m (viśeṣaṇa)
• Scots: adjective
• Scottish Gaelic: buadhair m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: (Ekavian) придев m, (Ijekavian) придјев m

  Roman: (Ekavian) pridev m, (Ijekavian) pridjev (sh) m

• Sicilian: aggittivi
• Sindhi: please add this translation if you can
• Slovak: prídavné meno (sk) n
• Slovene: pridevnik (sl) m
• Somali: please add this translation if you can
• Southern Altai: јарталгыш (ǰartalgïš)
• Spanish: adjetivo (es) m
• Sundanese: adjéktif
• Swahili: kivumishi, sifa (sw)
• Swedish: adjektiv (sv) n, egenskapsord (sv) n, tilläggsord n
• Tagalog: pang-uri (tl)
• Tajik: сифат (tg) (sifat)
• Tamil: உரிச்சொல் (ta) (uriccol)
• Tatar: сыйфат (tt) (sıyfat)
• Telugu: విశేషణము (te) (viśēṣaṇamu)
• Thai: คุณศัพท์ (th) (kun-ná-sàp), วิเศษณ์ (th) (wí-sèet), นามวิเศษณ์
• Turkish: sıfat (tr), önad (tr)
• Turkmen: sypat (tk)
• Ukrainian: прикме́тник (uk) m (prykmétnyk)
• Upper Sorbian: adjektiw m
• Urdu: بشیشن m (biśeśan), صفت (ur) f (sifat)
• Uyghur: سۈپەت (süpet)
• Uzbek: sifat (uz)
• Vietnamese: tính từ (vi), hình dung từ
• Volapük: ladyek (vo)
• Võro: umahussyna
• Walloon: addjectif (wa)
• Welsh: ansoddair (cy) m
• West Frisian: eigenskipswurd (fy) n
• Wolof: please add this translation if you can
• Xhosa: please add this translation if you can
• Yiddish: אַדיעקטיוו (yi) m (adyektiv)
• Zazaki: sifet, vername (diq)
• Zulu: isiphawulo (zu) class 7/8

Adjective

adjective (not comparable)

1. (grammar) Adjectival; pertaining to or functioning as an adjective.

   Synonym: adjectival

2. (law) Applying to methods of enforcement and rules of procedure.
   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 10, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     The whole English law, substantive and adjective.

   Synonym: procedural

   Antonym: substantive

3. (chemistry, of a dye) Needing the use of a mordant to be made fast to that which is being dyed.

   Antonym: substantive

4. (obsolete, reflected in the chemical sense, but extinct as a general sense) Incapable of independent function.
   • 1899, John Jay Chapman, Emerson and Other Essays, AMS Press (1969) (as reproduced in Project Gutenberg)

     In fact, God is of not so much importance in Himself, but as the end towards which man tends. That irreverent person who said that Browning uses “God” as a pigment made an accurate criticism of his theology. In Browning, God is adjective to man.

   Synonyms: dependent, derivative

   Coordinate terms: adjunct, adjunctive, adjutant

Translations

incapable of independent function

• Catalan: adjectiu (ca)
• Galician: adxectivo (gl) m
• Japanese: 非独立性の (hidokuritsusei no), 依存性の (izonsei no)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: rengdêr (ku) f

adjectival — see adjectival

methods of enforcement and rules of procedure

• Afrikaans: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: إِجْرَائِيّ (ar) (ʔijrāʔiyy)
• Dutch: formeel (nl)
• French: … de procédure (fr)
• German: formal (de)
• Hebrew: דיוני m (diyuní), נוהלי m (noholí)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} formai (hu), ^{(please verify)} eljárási
• Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Interlingua: adjective (ia), adjectival
• Japanese: 手続き上の (てつづきじょうの, tetsudzukijō no)
• Polish: przymiotnikowy (pl)
• Portuguese: adjetivo (pt)
• Romanian: adjectiv (ro)
• Spanish: adjetivo (es)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• West Frisian: protokol c

of a dye that needs the use of a mordant

• Catalan: adjectiu (ca)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Verb

adjective (third-person singular simple present adjectives, present participle adjectiving, simple past and past participle adjectived)

1. (transitive) To make an adjective of; to form or convert into an adjective.
   • 1805, John Horne Tooke, Epea Pteroenta: or The Diversions of Purley Part 2

     Language has as much occasion to adjective the distinct signification of the verb, and to adjective also the mood, as it has to adjective time. It has […] adjectived all three.

   • 1832, William Hunter, An Anglo-Saxon grammar, and derivatives, page 46:

     In English, instead of adjectiving our own substantives, we have borrowed, in immense numbers, adjectived signs from other languages […]

2. (transitive, chiefly as a participle) To characterize with an adjective; to describe by using an adjective.

Synonyms

• adjectify
• adjectivize

Translations

To make an adjective of

• Finnish: muuntaa adjektiiviksi
• French: adjectiver (fr), adjectiviser (fr), adjectivaliser (fr)
• Greek: επιθετοποιώ (epithetopoió)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: aggettivare (it)
• Portuguese: adjetivar (pt)
• Spanish: adjetivar (es)

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.dʒɛk.tiv/

• Audio (CAN):

  (file)

Adjective

adjective

1. feminine singular of adjectif

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Latin

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) adjectīve

1. vocative masculine singular of adjectīvus

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ad.ʒekˈti.ve]

Noun

adjective

1. plural of adjectiv

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Scots

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

From Latin (nomen) adjectivum.

Noun

adjective (plural adjectives)

1. (grammar) adjective