comparative

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French comparatif, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin comparativus, equivalent to comparatus, from comparare (“to compare”) + -ive, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin -ivus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəmˈpɛɹ.ə.tɪv/
• IPA^(key): /kəmˈpæɹ.ə.tɪv/
• Hyphenation: com‧par‧a‧tive

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (US):

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Adjective

comparative (comparative more comparative, superlative most comparative)

1. Of or relating to comparison.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

   • (Can we date this quote by Granvill and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     the comparative faculty

2. Using comparison as a method of study, or founded on something using it.

   comparative anatomy

3. Approximated by comparison; relative.
   • (Can we date this quote by Whewell and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     The recurrence of comparative warmth and cold.

   • (Can we date this quote by Bentley and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     The bubble, by reason of its comparative levity to the fluid that encloses it, would necessarily ascend to the top.

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
• comparative method
• comparativeness
• comparativism
• comparativist
• comparativistic

 

Translations

of or relating to comparison

• Belarusian: параўна́льны (paraŭnálʹny)
• Bulgarian: сравни́телен (bg) (sravnítelen)
• Catalan: comparatiu
• Danish: komparativ (da), sammenlignende
• Finnish: verrannollinen (fi), vertaileva (fi)
• French: comparatif (fr) m
• Greek: συγκριτικός (el) (sygkritikós)
• Indonesian: komparatif (id), perbandingan (id)
• Irish: comparáideach
• Italian: comparativo (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norman: compathatif (Jersey)
• Norwegian: komparativ (no)
• Persian: تفضیلی (fa), تطبیقی (fa)
• Polish: porównawczy (pl)
• Portuguese: comparativo (pt)
• Romanian: comparativ (ro)
• Russian: сравни́тельный (ru) (sravnítelʹnyj)
• Slovak: porovnávací
• Spanish: comparativo (es)
• Tagalog: hambingin
• Ukrainian: порівня́льний (porivnjálʹnyj)

using comparison as a method of study

• Bengali: তুলনামূলক (tulnamūlôk)
• Bulgarian: сравнителен (bg) (sravnitelen)
• Catalan: comparatiu
• Danish: komparativ (da)
• Finnish: vertaileva (fi)
• French: comparatif (fr) m
• Greek: συγκριτικός (el) (sygkritikós)
• Hungarian: összehasonlító (hu), komparatív
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: comparáideach
• Italian: comparativo (it) m
• Norman: compathatif (Jersey)
• Portuguese: comparativo (pt)
• Romanian: comparativ (ro) m
• Russian: сравни́тельный (ru) (sravnítelʹnyj)
• Slovak: komparatívny
• Spanish: comparativo (es)
• Tagalog: hambingin

relative

• Bulgarian: относи́телен (bg) (otnosítelen)
• Finnish: suhteellinen (fi), verrannollinen (fi)
• Italian: comparativo (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: относи́тельный (ru) (otnosítelʹnyj)
• Slovak: relatívny, pomerný
• Spanish: comparativo (es)

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

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} vergleichend (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Old English: ^{(please verify)} wiþmetenlic, ^{(please verify)} wiþmetendlic

Noun

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.
3. (chiefly in the plural) Data used to make a comparison.
   • 2010, Barry Smith, Introductory Financial Accounting and Reporting, page 171:

     Investment ratios are positive. Comparative or trend data are required to draw final conclusions. The absence of comparatives and trend data constrains the conclusions.

4. (obsolete) An equal; a rival; a compeer.
   • (Can we date this quote by Beaumont and Fletcher and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Gerard ever was / His full comparative.

5. (obsolete) One who makes comparisons; one who affects wit.
   • 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Pt. 1, III.ii.67:

     Every beardless vain comparative.

Synonyms

• (grammar: degree): comparative degree

Translations

grammatical construction

• Albanian: shkalla krahasore f
• Arabic: دَرَجَة نِسْبِيَّة f (daraja(t) nisbiyya)
• Belarusian: вышэ́йшая ступе́нь f (vyšéjšaja stupjénʹ), параўна́льная ступе́нь f (paraŭnálʹnaja stupjénʹ)
• Bulgarian: сравни́телна сте́пен f (sravnítelna stépen)
• Catalan: comparatiu m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 比較級／比较级 (zh) (bǐjiàojí), 比较级 (zh) (bǐjiàojí)

• Czech: druhý stupeň m, komparativ (cs) m
• Dutch: vergrotende trap (nl), vergelijkende trap (nl)
• Faroese: miðstig n
• Finnish: komparatiivi (fi), vertailumuoto
• French: comparatif (fr) m
• German: Höherstufe (de) f, Mehrstufe (de) f, Komparativ (de) m
• Greek: συγκριτικός (el) m (sygkritikós)
• Hungarian: középfok (hu)
• Icelandic: miðstig (is) n
• Indonesian: pelebihan
• Irish: breischéim f
• Italian: comparativo (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 比較級 (ja) (ひかくきゅう, hikakukyū)
• Korean: 비교급 (ko) (bigyogeup) (比較級 (ko))
• Latin: gradus comparativus, comparativus, collatio secunda
• Lithuanian: aukštesnysis laipsnis (lt) m
• Norman: compathatif m
• Old English: wiþmetendlīċ
• Persian: صفت برتر (sefat-e bartar)
• Polish: stopień wyższy (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: grau comparativo m, comparativo (pt) m
• Russian: сравни́тельная сте́пень (ru) f (sravnítelʹnaja stépenʹ), компарати́в (ru) m (komparatív)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ко̏мпаратӣв m

  Roman: kȍmparatīv (sh) m

• Slovak: komparatív, druhý stupeň
• Slovene: primérnik m
• Spanish: comparativo (es) m
• Swedish: komparativ (sv) c
• Tagalog: pahambing
• Ukrainian: ви́щий сту́пінь m (výščyj stúpinʹ)
• Vietnamese: cấp so sánh

word in comparative form

• Catalan: comparatiu m
• Czech: komparativ (cs) m
• French: comparatif (fr) m
• German: Komparativ (de) m
• Greek: συγκριτικός (el) m (sygkritikós)
• Indonesian: pembanding (id)
• Italian: comparativo (it)
• Norman: compathatif m
• Norwegian: komparativ (no)
• Novial:
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Persian: صفت برتر (sefat-e bartar)
• Polish: stopień wyższy (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: comparativo (pt) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ко̏мпаратӣв m

  Roman: kȍmparatīv (sh) m

• Slovak: komparatív
• 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

See also

• contrastive

References

• “comparative”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “comparative”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "comparative" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

Anagrams

• vampire taco

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French

Adjective

comparative

1. feminine singular of comparatif

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Italian

Adjective

comparative

1. feminine plural of comparativo

Anagrams

• comparivate
• crepitavamo

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Latin

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) comparātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of comparātīvus

References

• “comparative”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press