generative

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɛnəɹətɪv/, /ˈdʒɛnɹətɪv/, /dʒəˈnɛɹətɪv/

Etymology

From Middle English generatyve, generatyf, generatif. Compare French génératif.

Adjective

generative (comparative more generative, superlative most generative)

1. Having the power of generating, propagating, originating, or producing.
   • That generative particle. — Bentley
   • 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 127:

     Of course, structures like those associated with (36) and (37) constitute only a tiny subset of the infinite set of well-formed sentence structures found in English. We can increase the Generative Capacity of our grammar ( = the set of structures which it generates) either by expanding the Lexicon on the one hand, or by expanding the Categorial Rules (i.e. Phrase Structure Rules) on the other.

Related terms

• degenerative

Synonyms

• creative

Antonyms

• annihilative

Translations

having the power of generating

• Bulgarian: размножителен (razmnožitelen), производителен (bg) (proizvoditelen)
• Finnish: generatiivinen

• Serbo-Croatian: generativan (sh), stvaralački (sh)

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German

Adjective

generative

1. inflected form of generativ

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Italian

Adjective

generative

1. feminine plural of generativo

Anagrams

• generatevi